what else to feed my starving baby chicks...............

[erin3]

good morning, everyone. my girls are about 4 weeks old and in addition to to chick food i have been giving them small amounts of oatmeal, plain yogurt and their absolute favorite........no-fat, no salt cottage cheese............it is so fun to watch them eat that we want to give it to them everyday........but we don't. any other suggestions for healthy treats before they can get out and search for their own? when can i start giving them scratch? thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[erin3]

sorry everyone..............i just saw and printed out the great chicken treats list..........i am at work........one question, though, is 4 weeks too early for a little scratch?

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

mixed fruit. Watermelon, banana;s, strawberrys...ETC. Some may hate it and some may love it
BTW. good morning to you as well

I really cant answer the scratch question but I am starting to give a little bit to them at the age of 2 months. They get it once a week. others may have different opinions though

 

[peepkeeper]

Take it easy on the scratch and treats. It's fun to give them treats, but they should get most of their food from chick feed. If they fill up on other stuff they won't eat their feed and will actually become malnourished.

Mealworms are an excellent heaalthy treat and it's fun to watch them go nuts over them. A good treat when the ground is frozen and they can't get at the bugs.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

You can also use crickets if your petstore or bait shop dont have mealworms (which is highly unlikely)

 

[MissPrissy]

As the weather gets warmer and we move into spring and most especially summer scratch is the last thing you want to give your chicks. The corn takes a lot of energy for them to digest which in turn raises their body heat. In the summer this can add undo stress and result in mortality failures.

Your chicks are better served by making sure they eat the chick starter/grower as it is complete nutritionally and formulate for their optimum growth and health.

Occassional treats on the side are okay but don't over do it or they will stop eating the feed and may become malnourished which can manifest in illness and eventually death.

Cooked eggs, cook white rice, yogurt, black oil sunflower seeds and your vegetable peels from your kitchen are all excellent treats as long as they are kept in moderation. If you are offering too many of these items you will also need to have very fine grit (like play sand) available to them at all times.

Chicks love meal worms and crickets. Those are easily acquired at your local pet store or fishing tackle store.

Good luck with your new chicks and have fun.

 

[speckledhen]

Honestly, they really don't need anything except their starter feed. At that age, I never give them scratch, ever. They only get chopped hardboiled eggs in addition to starter till they are probably 10 weeks old.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Also I've found over the years its not good to give them anything more than their chick starter/grower either, it has everything chicks need for growing out......Just another reason for so many runny poos............

 

[Chickchix]

At what age can you start offering something other than the starter food? Just as a treat occasionally, not to replace food...or do they stop eating food and just hope for "the good stuff" like my my DD did as a toddler?

 

[Cetawin]

My little ones (2 days old) are not eating the scratch but I gave them a teaspoon full of plain cooked oatmeal this morning...they enjoyed tasting it.