Treats or Not?

[Alyssa-Bee]

I recantly got nine chicks ( four Easter eggers, three speckled sussex and two blue laced red wyandottes ). They are now about three weeks and I was wondering if I should introduce grit and maybe some treats too. Here is a photo of one of the Easter Eggers enjoying the sun . Any advice?

 

[zhutson789]

I recantly got nine chicks ( four Easter eggers, three speckled sussex and two blue laced red wyandottes ). They are now about three weeks and I was wondering if I should introduce grit and maybe some treats too. Here is a photo of one of the Easter Eggers enjoying the sun . Any advice?

We tried cut up fruits and veggies like strawberries and cut up cherry tomatoes. They weren’t crazy about it. Once they get older you can use some crack corn. Ours love it. Started that about 6 weeks old though.

 

[Tinman0ut]

Mine only like a few rolled oats (saw it suggested on a thread here to help deal with pasty butt and it has seemed to help so far) I only put about an 1/8th of a cup in for all 12 of my chicks to share and they are gone in 2 minutes and within a minute after that anything they scratched off the high walled plate is also picked up... I have grit added to their food 1/4 cup per quart of feed shake it up as I go and let them eat what they need along with their feed...

Mind you my chicks range from 1-3 weeks old...

 

[Mistizoom]

We started giving chick grit sprinkled on food then some small earthworms a few days later when they were just over two weeks old. They loved them. Weren't too crazy about lettuce though.

 

[Tinman0ut]

Took awhile to load so didn’t include it in previous comment but there are 2 8 second videos on this link (can swipe on here to view both)

https://imgur.com/a/5zUMcTB

 

[linsybird]

I usually give mine grit and meal worms after a week or two, they love it!

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you're letting them out they should be getting grit already.

 

[Alyssa-Bee]

Thanks for the replies! I am new to chickens and BYC so I couldn't find them immediately!

I currently do not have grit at my place but was wondering if a scoop of rocky sand would work??? They go outside into our yard for about three hours a day. They have been eating the grass in the yard each time they go out, (and any tiny things they can find on the ground including grit hopefully!). Will that be enough?
I'm excited to start trying treats and to hopefully get them a little friendlier!
I'll definitely try the meal worms and oats when I can and corn later on. (The chicks will be thanking you soon when they taste that stuff!)

Thanks for the advice!

 

[rosemarythyme]

As long as the rocky sand is fairly coarse with has different size pieces, that should work fine for now.

 

[Tinman0ut]

Basically what rosemarythyme said... I included a picture of actual chick grit for you to compare your ground to... This is ground up granite so it’s a nice hard rock that helps them grind up their food and get the most out of it... not so much sand but definitely little rocks