Safe treats for young chicks

[NJbirdlover]

Mine are 5 days old-do they need grit if I am only going to try hard boiled egg?

 

[gardenak]

Mine are nine days old and I gave them half a mashed hard boiled egg and 3 pieces of cooked spaghetti cut into 1 inch pieces. What a riot! One would grab the noodle and run. The others could have had their own, but thought chasing thier sister was better. Now they're all tuckered out. I put a dish of sand next to the lid I had the treats in, not all of them took any sand, should I be worried?

 

[gritsar]

I didn't offer grit when the only treats I was offering were soft. I started offering grit for foods that needed "grinding" to digest.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I agree. And I prefer to separate it and offer it free choice. My older free range hens mostly ignore it, my younger bunch go right through it; they have a huge yard and eat weeds, bugs, etc. that they find. Scratch feed is a good treat as well. My hens like it a lot better than my young (10 weeks) bunch, though.

 

[Soot the silkie]

The only reason I'd be worried about feeding them bugs when they are young is that insects sometimes carry the eggs of intestinal parasites. Another treat my chicks like: dirt! Plain. Dirt! I gave them some in a dish and I came back five minutes later and it was gone! It was composted dirt though so I think it had some worms and other stuff that good for them in it.

 

[ltstrouse12]

I gave em meal worms and they went completely bonkers

 

[Kleonaptra]

Tonight I gave my 3 week olds some breadcrumbs soaked in beef and onion gravy, they loved it! We are trying to switch from crumbles to pellets and they don't like it.

 

[Dawn4127]

We have several grape vines in our yard and I remember years ago the chickens used to literally jump up and pluck them of the vines to get them!

 

[Junediamond]

Can I give my 8 and 9 week old chicks sunflower seeds?

 

[Junediamond]

Unsalted, and meant for birds.