Vegetable and Fruit Pulp for chicks?

[Hounddog777]

We just received our chicks and I do a lot of juicing. Can a vegetable and fruit mix pulp be given to chicks as a treat, wait until they are older or not at all? I always have a lot of pulp left over and can only make so many cupcakes, bread and omelets.

 

[DeborahLynne14]

I was wondering the same thing. Can't wait for someone to respond - and can't wait to give my little ones some treats.

 

[Percheron chick]

How old are the chicks? You can give a limited amount (maybe 1 C for 10) but they need the chick feed to grow and feather out properly. Adding too many treats at this stage will dilute the vitamins, minerals and protein that they need and slow down maturation. I would be taking the extra and starting a mega compost pile. That will provide a great source of food and entertainment when they are older.

 

[Mossman11]

I would not at a young age, half grown it would be ok at times but not everyday, you need a quality chick feed , you should check out bresse farms online, there chick feed is very good, they make it at there farm

 

[TheRambler]

You can most certainly feed pulp to them. No issues with it at all. However, there are a few key things to keep in mind when doing this. Consider this a treat, not a dietary staple for them. This means that this should make up no more than 5% or so of their diet. You also need to ensure that they have grit available. I would only put out a very small portion of it at a time, and before doing so be sure that they have eaten a good portion of their feed for the day. There is plenty of good stuff in fruit and vegetable pulp for them, but to the others points they need a specific amount of certain vitamins and minerals for proper growth and development, which their feed supplies, so you don't want to feed so much that they reduce the amount of feed they are consuming. Treat it as a treat/supplement and not a feed replacement and you will be fine.

 

[Mossman11]

If you are new to raising chicks, I would not feed pulp, to much of it can give your birds stomach issue, maybe just alittle bit every once in a while, just a good quality chick starter if starting out would be best, just have to be careful learning, after a bird gets a few weeks old it should be ok to feed some every once in a while, but not everyday till they get grown, birds that are grown can eat about anything from grass to reg feed, good luck

 

[Hounddog777]

They are only 3 days old and are real lively, eating and drinking up a storm. I have about 3 compost piles going now, use it for my garden, which is about 1/4 acre. The pulp always comes in handy, but was thinking about the chicks. Thank you for the info.

 

[Hounddog777]

Right now, I am feeding them Manna Pro medicated chick starter, have a small bowl of grit and a waterer with 1 tbsp. per gallon Bragg organic apple cider vinegar. I bought them a Ecoglow 20 heater, which they love. They all scoot under there for a while and then come out, walk all over, eat and drink. They look quite happy and healthy.

 

[Mossman11]

Good luck

 

[DeborahLynne14]

I was wondering more about "fruit scraps", "veggie scraps", bread crust, things like that. Right now my leghorns and rhode island reds are four weeks old and they have only had medicated chicken crumbles and they love it - but i can't wait to give them some little "treats". Is it too early?