Silkie diet

[8ponygirl9]

hi there,

I'm getting a silkie chick on Feb 9th and I've raised ducks but not a chick what's the absolute best diet for her? Will fruits and veggies be introduced when she gets older?

 

[SA&P]

Hello and welcome


I am very new to chicken keeping and I have Silkies.
Mine were hatched in an incubator in my kitchen last year.
I have found tons of advice on this forum so no doubt everyone will chip in. I give my Silkies mealworms as they need protein but there’s no bugs in the winter.....(they’re free range) and some fruit and vegetables.
I have a small electric chopper in the kitchen and my girls like apple (no seeds) pears, carrots, lettuce and if I have leftover peas they love those.
It snowed last week so they had warm porridge.
I don’t make it hard work, they just get whatever is in the kitchen and whatever is left........bread too. This doesn’t make up their diet I hasten to add.....it’s a treat.
Nothing mouldy, and no citrus.
Cut a cucumber in half and see if they’ll peck at that.....or a head of cabbage. There’s a list on here of food that is suitable. Someone will post it, they’re very helpful.
Good luck

 

[8ponygirl9]

Great thank you. I'm only getting one chick no she won't be alone but the plan is to keep her as a house pet with access to the outside with supervision (hawks, cats ECT)

 

[ben0125]

You can just feed her chick starter till 8 weeks, after that you can introduce her to chick grower and also give her some grit. Then when she is 20 weeks feed her a layer feed, & by then she will be happy having food scraps.

 

[SA&P]

Great thank you. I'm only getting one chick no she won't be alone but the plan is to keep her as a house pet with access to the outside with supervision (hawks, cats ECT)

I think they were about five months old when I grated a carrot for them **gone in ten seconds** haha
Natural yoghurt is good for them but mine don’t seem to go for that much I think my dog pilfered it
If your chick likes yoghurt and it’s in the house, put a bib on it and cover your furniture

 

[8ponygirl9]

That's hilarious thanks for the warning!

 

[8ponygirl9]

You can just feed her chick starter till 8 weeks, after that you can introduce her to chick grower and also give her some grit. Then when she is 20 weeks feed her a layer feed, & by then she will be happy having food scraps.

Oh dear, my local feed store will have all this won't they? Lol

 

[ben0125]

Oh dear, my local feed store will have all this won't they? Lol

Most feed stores do. Just start off getting small bags of feed. Could you link me a website to the feed store so I can take a look at their stock?

 

[8ponygirl9]

Honestly I've never seen small bags but I will look! I usually shop at Jax in Lafayette co if the location matters some stores carry different things sometimes the other close store would be tractor supply in Longmont co I buy grass hay there for my ducks beding

 

[ben0125]

Honestly I've never seen small bags but I will look! I usually shop at Jax in Lafayette co if the location matters some stores carry different things sometimes the other close store would be tractor supply in Longmont co I buy grass hay there for my ducks beding

Tractor supply will for sure have it, I think 5kg of chick starter will be good to start with and if you have any left you can mix it in with the other feed.