Treats for our feathered babies

[amh619]

What kinds of treats have you been feeding your baby chicks and at what age do you start feeding them?

 

[BlessedmamaAELE]

Baby cakes from the feed store are great. I wait till around 2 weeks +.

Fresh herbs like oregano, lemon balm, rosemary. Ground up eggshell occasionally. The older they get the more options you’ll have. My birds are 8+ weeks and I’m introducing melon, lettuce, meal worms etc and they still are kind of clueless what to do with it! They sure do love foraging outside though!

 

[chkva]

Mine get whatever the hens get, but in smaller size. Usually mine eat whatever as soon as I offer it to them which is no earlier than 2 weeks.

Lettuce, fruits, melons, veggies, herbs, and usually whatever we have for dinner (I'm 100% plant based besides eggs since they're my own)

Just make sure you offer grit to them so they can digest the food they're eating that not chick feed.

 

[ZooAtHome]

I gave my chicks either hard-boiled or scrambled eggs daily, starting as soon as I got them, as recommended by a friend who has bred show chickens for years. At about 2-3 weeks (not all mine are the same age), I began giving them a scoop of dirt from their future run every day to dig through, to help them become acclimated to locale microbes and such. This provides enrichment as well as a few odd snacks. I've also given them bits of apple, zucchini, green beans, etc., from whatever I am making for dinner. Usually just a tablespoon or so for a dozen chicks. I've also offered live, small crickets which are a big hit.

Today, at about 3-5 weeks old, I gave them their first dried meal worms. I thought they'd go nuts over them because they love crickets, but most of them seemed unimpressed. However, I have a couple of chicks that immediately grab up anything new and run around peeping, "Look what I've got! It's all mine!" until someone else takes it away from them. This usually sparks interest in the new food and eventually everyone at least takes a taste.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I have my chicks outside from day one, either with mama hen or in a brooder. They get 20% chick food, dried meal worms, grass clippings, real worms, & dried grubs. When they are put with the flock at about 3 weeks they get lettuce, cabbage and yogurt with the rest of the flock. I rarely give them scratch or any corn, just every few months as a special thanks for giving me eggs!

 

[amh619]

Thanks for the great replies and ideas. I do like to spoil my chicks. They have a small dirt bath starting at 3 weeks. And we have been having them eat metalwork out of our hands also starting at 3 weeks. Already have the chick grit for them to rummage thru. I'm going to try scrambled eggs for them tonight. Bigger chicks @ 7 weeks old went crazy over chick starter mixed up with warm milk and molasses. Just a small pie tin, didn't want to overdue it with them.