when can chicks start eating scraps (vegie peelings, silverbeet etc)? What are the best scraps to start with?
If it was me, I'd delay giving them scraps until they're 20 weeks or more. I'm sure they'll eat them, and the scraps won't do them any harm. BUT they need a properly balanced diet to make sure they grow up fit and healthy. Feed chick food until they're 6 - 8 weeks, then growers mash or pellets until 16 or 17 weeks old and layers mash or pellets from then on. If you really must give them scraps, give it to them in late afternoon as a treat, so that they've had time to eat plenty of the nutritionally balanced stuff. http://muckycluckers.blogspot.com/
Scraps are perfectly OK for chicks once they have a source of grit. Scraps, especially vegetable scraps, mimic what they would be eating in nature and benefit them in many ways.
Watermelon scraps! They love watermelon. I don't give too many scraps. I do feed fruit, sunflower seeds, dried oats, cracked corn, as treats. I've given peanuts and homemade bread too.
I read somewhere to wait a few weeks. We started ours on just a few basic scraps around 3 or 4 weeks and slowly worked up to whatever scraps we wanted to give them. They'll love it! And, it seems to help make them your friends.
Mine won't eat any scraps at almost 9 weeks. I've tried everything. All they want is their feed and grass. I figure I'll try again later.
