Starter Feed - But Anything Else? Also a Question About Roosters

[saltandpepper]

I have 14 chickens. 3 of them are roosters. 1 a buff orpington, 1 a black cochin,1 a bantam rose comb. they have been together since a few weeks old. the bantam and the cochin fought a couple of times but the buff steps in between them and breaks it up. a really funny sight. its as if he is saying. ok boys, thats enough. they have never challenged him(but he is about 3 times their size. they seem to have taken on certain rolls as well. the buff stays with most of the hens when outside,the cochin stays at the henhouse most of the time and the bantam stays with the hens that go off in a different direction.

 

[Gypsy07]

I've got a chicken specific vitamin supplement called LifeGuard that I put in their water. I also use it for adult birds when I have any that look they look like they need a boost. I feed my chicks non-medicated crumbs and I've never had any get sick. I don't feed them anything else apart from sometimes some mashed up hardboiled egg yolks.

The first two roosters I hatched out and kept didn't get on very well. I never really saw them fighting or even sparring but one was definitely dominant over the other one. The no. 1 roo hung out by the coop all day crowing like mad and romancing his ladies. The no. 2 roo would sprint off at high speed as soon as I let them out in the mornings and I wouldn't see him again all day. He made sure to keep out of the way of the dominant one as much as he could. I found him dead one day and although he didn't have a mark on him I always suspected the no. 1 roo had something to do with it.

The next two roos I hatched out and kept were the only two chicks I got from a really bad hatch. They first started sparring with each other when they were just a couple of days old which was really funny to watch. When I put them out in the main coop I worried the no. 1 roo would attack them but I guess they were too young for him to see them as competition. I worried they would grow up and keep fighting with each other but they are best buddies now. I ate the no. 1 roo when he turned nasty and started attacking people so these two are my only roos. They always hang out close by each other and most nights they roost up on the perch side by side.

Up till Xmas I had 13 hens with my two roos and although they didn't fight with each other over the hens, I did notice a couple of the hens looking a bit threadbare and tatty and I think it was because the roos had favourites that were getting singled out for all the romancing. I got 10 more hens for Xmas and that seems to have sorted things out. Maybe that was the problem with my original two roos, cause back then I think I only had nine hens with both of them...

 

[moderndayhippy]

Thank you so much for all of the replies! I get BRAGG Raw Apple Cider Vinegar for my chicky babies, so I'm sure they're getting the "good stuff".

I think I'll just skip the electrolyte and go for the medicated feed for the first month or 2, and give them a small amount of ACV in their water. Hopefully that'll give them all a good start.

I didn't even think about giving them boiled eggs, but that's a great idea!

How old should they be before giving them yogurt? I've heard many people say that it's great for chickens as a sometimes treat, and that they love it.