Questions about chick food and bedding

[Union]

Hi, my name's Scott and I'm new to chicken raising. I was wondering if it's a problem to give baby chicks food other than chick starter, such as a small amount of table scraps and things from outside. Also is there a problem with using things from outside as their bedding/cage lining such as grass, leaves, weeds, bark, etc. Other than being more of a hastle to deal with are there any problems with this? (This is where the questions about eating things from outside comes from) Thanks for your help!

 

[ruth]

Hi Scott - welcome to BYC and to the joys of raising chickens.

Most people on here will tell you to stick to chick starter food for the first few weeks. However, I feed all of my baby chicks scrambled egg starting at day one, then after a few days, add shredded cheese, and then by the time they're 2 weeks old add diced up veggies - all in addition to their chick starter. I also rig up small runs for them outside in sunshine and put them out to play on grass if it's at least 70 and sunny and they are at least 2 weeks old.

I use a towel on bottom of cardboard box for the first week and then I switch to hay.

Hope that helps. They are great little survivors and are a lot tougher than most people give them credit for.