What can baby chicks eat?

[tiffmw10]

My chicks LOVE Greek Yogurt! They go crazy!

 

[jacksson515]

Ducks seem to eat greens and bugs out immediately out of the shell whereas chicks seem to wait a while before learning to taste the goodies around them. Purchased chicks rather than hen-raised chicks don't have the advantage of seeing their mother scratch and hunt. I have turken chicks and runner ducklings right now and when I throw chickweed and purslane into their pen, the ducks go wild while the chicks watch.

 

[ABard]

You want starter feed as their main meal for them to grow strong. That said, we started giving them smashed boiled egg as a treat (for training) as well as bits of strawberry and other fruits and sweet potato when they were a couple of weeks old.

 

[jmariebeef]

I have 6 rouen ducks in with 18 wyandottes chicks, they seem to be getting along for the most part so that isn't an issue; however, I have read that it is a good idea to switch the ducks over to a grower ration after two weeks. My birds are all about 4 weeks old, and I have put some gamebird grower in a hanging feeder for the ducks. I also have a second hanging feeder with non-medicated chick starter for the chickens, and have been hanging the feeder with the duck feed higher than the one with chick feed as the ducks are much bigger. My concern is that I am pretty sure that they all eat out of both feeders, but have definitely been hitting the chick starter harder than the grower. So first off, is the gamebird starter going to hurt the chicks? And second, if they have access to the feed with niacin in it do I still need to supplement the chick starter, or will the ducks eat what they need? I only ask because I know cattle will only eat what they need, and if they need more of a vitamin they will seek it out in the form of loose mineral or a tub. Do ducks do that too?

 

[maaz]

My chicks are having loose motion but they are active. What do i do?? Please reply fast

 

[Blooie]

Watch a broody hen take her chicks out of the nest. They are just a few days old. They are playing in dirt. They are walking and dust bathing in dirt. They are eating dirt, bugs, tender grass and weed shoots, scratch, treats given to all the big chickens that they may have missed.....

She's not peeling apples and coring them, or checking bugs for bacteria before she'll let them have one, or examining shoots before they chow down. They eat their chick food, and whatever else she's pecking at on the ground. So that's what I do. Mine are brooded outdoors in the run in full sight of the adults. They get used to seeing the chicks everyday, and the chicks learn to be chickens by watching them. Which chicks get pasty butt - chicks raised by a broody hen or those raised artificially in a brooder? Sure, chicks being cared for by a mother hen sometimes get sick and they sometimes die. It stinks. But sometimes we do them a great disservice by delaying their growing up. They are less likely to gorge on snacks raised as naturally as possible as they do when we toss those same treats into the brooder. Out there, they peck and scratch and if they find something that looks interesting, they try it, unlike in a brooder where they get a pile of this or a bowl of that set in front of them.

I think we overthink it too much, fret too much.