Treats for chicks!

[corewassen87]

I have some 3 week old baby chicks and I want to make sure they are very tame and love being handled. So I want to start giving them some treats like meal worms and shredded cheese. Are they too young for it at 3 weeks?

 

[3riverschick]

I have some 3 week old baby chicks and I want to make sure they are very tame and love being handled. So I want to start giving them some treats like meal worms and shredded cheese. Are they too young for it at 3 weeks?

No, they are not too young. Now you want to get them some chick grit so they can grind up those treats in their gizzards. Just put it in a small dish and they will eat what they need.
Enjoy,
Karen

 

[PeAckAnBiTs]

Me, I would wait acouple more wks because there grit intake is so little an you stand the chance of them not being able to process it good enough. If you do give them treats only in moderation I wouldn't let them gouge themselves. Look in the learning center there is a topic on Socializing Your Chicks. That should be very helpful to you.

 

[corewassen87]

Thank you both so much for your responses I really appreciate it!

 

[azygous]

Chicks, offered grit, will consume all they need to handle digestion. I began giving my chicks meal worms when they were four days old with zero problems.

Yes, feeding meal worms is the premier bribe to get chicks to adore you! It's also a very useful way to train your chicks to come to you when your signal or call them. Just be sure to use the same signal each time, or the same verbal cue. For example, I enclose the worm in my fist and point/peck my closed fist with the index finger of the opposite hand. Later on you won't even need a meal worm in your hand to get the chicks to come. Just make the fist and peck it with your other finger.

 

[corewassen87]

T

Chicks, offered grit, will consume all they need to handle digestion. I began giving my chicks meal worms when they were four days old with zero problems.

Yes, feeding meal worms is the premier bribe to get chicks to adore you! It's also a very useful way to train your chicks to come to you when your signal or call them. Just be sure to use the same signal each time, or the same verbal cue. For example, I enclose the worm in my fist and point/peck my closed fist with the index finger of the opposite hand. Later on you won't even need a meal worm in your hand to get the chicks to come. Just make the fist and peck it with your other finger.

hats so cool! I got se laters in the spring and I've been addicted since. People underestimate chickens brains

 

[PeAckAnBiTs]

That is true treats are a great bribe I did a call while I was feeding mine treats. Now when I do it they come running. Chickens are smarter than people think.

 

[Teila]

Howdy corewassen87

As my chicks are raised by mumma, in the coop and run with lots of access to grit, they start ‘treats’ on Day 4.

Meal worms are definitely a favourite and they recognise the container they are kept in… if anyone comes to my house carrying a blue ice cream container they would leave with 6 x chickens close behind them

Sunday is Cheese-day and everyone gets to share a small slice of cheese. They recognise the word "Cheese".

They also know that if the lid comes off the Compost Bin and nothing is being put in, then a beetle lavae each will probably be coming out

I give each of my chickens a treat in turn and when they take it, I say their name. Now, if I say their name, they reach forward because they know it is for them. I mix up the order in which I give the treats so I know they are responding to name not a preconditioned order of doling out.

I can also call one chicken name from the flock and she will come running; granted the others follow her but the chicken in front is always the one who I have called.

 

[PeAckAnBiTs]

Teila....I would like to see that lol. Smart chickens