What Are Good Treats For Baby Chicks?

[ManuelsChickens]

Thank you guys for all these good/healthy treats!

I Still don't get why we need to feed them grit. I Can't get grit where I live. Or do they sell them at pet stores? Cause the poultry store I know That is closest where I live is about an hour away!

 

[FuzzyMugz]

You can feed them whole seeds when they move from the chick grit to the poultry grit. Poultry grit can be the size of a pea. If they can eat that then they can eat seeds.

Thanks chickencoop 789! Um . . . when exactly is it appropriate to move them from chick grit to poultry poultry grit? I keep finding developmental hurdles I don't know the schedules for. I swear, I just want a time - line or a tiny instruction manual that tells me the important ages (or developmental phases, whatever) that need to be met with new food, or new space, or new educational methods, or whatnot. I feel inept and completely lost without specifics, like: when chick has 27 feathers, he/she can have playdates and stay up till 8:30. but no sesame seeds till all the neck feathers are in and it looks like he/she is wearing a shawl. Or something like that . But my heavens they're fun. And so sweet! I just want to keep them happy and healthy.
This probably belongs on another thread or something, but I have to ask, what breed is the hen in your avatar picture, chickencoop 789?

 

[FuzzyMugz]

ManuelsChickens,a
As I understand the grit thing, it has to do with digestion. Our digestion begins in our mouth, with teeth (which chickens don't have) -- Remember the expression "as rare as hens teeth"? Anyway, they don't have a way to begin breaking their food down, so they need grit to help grind stuff up as it goes into their little systems. I know they have a caw, an area under their chins, about where their adam's apple would be and they have a small and large intestine and something called a cecal that sort of sits in between the two. I guess that if the grinding process with the grit wasn't present, their little organs would get overwhelmed. Again, that's just as I understand it, and I'm a new chicken person who reads a lot but doesn't have a lot of practical experience. Best of luck to you.

 

[4theKids]

Let me start by saying that I'm very new to this but I was told by one of my friends with chickens that regular sand works.I've been using it for two weeks and it seems to be working just fine.

 

[ManuelsChickens]

ManuelsChickens,a
As I understand the grit thing, it has to do with digestion.  Our digestion begins in our mouth, with teeth (which chickens don't have) --  Remember the expression "as rare as hens teeth"?  Anyway, they don't have a way to begin breaking their food down, so they need grit to help grind stuff up as it goes into their little systems.  I know they have a caw, an area under their chins,  about where their adam's apple would be and they have a small and large intestine and something called a cecal that sort of sits in between the two.  I guess that if the grinding process with the grit wasn't present, their little organs would get overwhelmed.   Again, that's just as I understand it, and I'm a new chicken person who reads a lot but doesn't have a lot of practical experience.   Best of luck to you.

Thanks, But Where Can I Buy The Grit ?

 

[teach1rusl]

Thanks, But Where Can I Buy The Grit ?

I've even used parakeet grit from pet stores. Coarse sand will work for really young chicks (not the fine playground stuff). If you eventually free range your birds once they're older, they'll find their own. Or if you have sand/pea gravel in their run, same thing. All birds (wild or domesticated) need rock and such in their gizzard to help break down tougher food matter since they don't have teeth...

 

[chickencoop789]

Thanks, But Where Can I Buy The Grit ?

Here are some links to places that you can buy grit online.
http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/chick-grit.html
http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/pogr5lb.html

I like to buy things online because some stores might not have what your looking for.

 

[chickencoop789]

Thanks chickencoop 789! Um . . . when exactly is it appropriate to move them from chick grit to poultry poultry grit? I keep finding developmental hurdles I don't know the schedules for. I swear, I just want a time - line or a tiny instruction manual that tells me the important ages (or developmental phases, whatever) that need to be met with new food, or new space, or new educational methods, or whatnot. I feel inept and completely lost without specifics, like: when chick has 27 feathers, he/she can have playdates and stay up till 8:30. but no sesame seeds till all the neck feathers are in and it looks like he/she is wearing a shawl. Or something like that . But my heavens they're fun. And so sweet! I just want to keep them happy and healthy.
This probably belongs on another thread or something, but I have to ask, what breed is the hen in your avatar picture, chickencoop 789?

Normally 14 weeks is a good time to move them to the bigger grit. 14 weeks is about the time they should start getting the grower feed, so that is a good time to start giving them poultry grit.

The breed in my avatar is a silver spangled hamburg.

 

[ManuelsChickens]

Here are some links to places that you can buy grit online.
http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/chick-grit.html
http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/pogr5lb.html

I like to buy things online because some stores might not have what your looking for.

Thanks.

 

[triplepurpose]

My chickens have access to plenty of natural dirt, so I have never supplied purchased grit for them. If I am raising small chicks inside I put some earth in their feed tray (the native soil here has plenty of small rock particles).

That's why in my earlier post I specifically mentioned feeding chicks WHOLE plants with the DIRT still on the roots. I did this for my last batch of chicks and they were far more interested in the dirty roots than in eating the leaves of the plants.

My Muscovy ducks like to hang out together in the gravel driveway at least once a day and "eat" lots of tiny rocks.