what should we feed baby chicks?

[KB1PQP]

i dont know what to feed the baby chicks we have

 

[halo]

Baby chick food! Go to your local feed store and ask for starter/grower for chicks. They should be able to help you.

 

[bigstack]

Chick starter feed. It is specialy formulated to give them all they need. Tractor supply store, feed store...etc. Corn, corn meal, and oats are NOT good to feed them! They have no nutritional value and they cannot digest them anyway.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Yep! What halo said.

I feed the Purina Start and Grow here, but it's really a personal choice. Head to your local Tractor Supply or feed store and tell them you need chick food. They'll help you get what you need.

 

[bigstack]

Get some starter grit too. It can be substituted with small bird grit if you cant get it at your feed store or TSC. As a chick they will eat ANYTHING! BUT!!!! they cannot digest it! They need the starter feed. You can substitute scrambled egg for a short term. until you can get chick feed. But they need the chick starter feed ASAP!!!!!! and LOTS LOTS LOTS of fresh water! I have to clean mine out atleast twice a day...Atleast!

Good Luck and God Bless!

 

[KB1PQP]

thank you everybody

 

[Ridgerunner]

This link should help you in understanding what to feed when.

Oregon State Feeding Chickens
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/pnw/pnw477/#anchor1132074

If all you feed is chick starter or starter/grower, you do not have to feed grit. They can digest it just fine. The starter and starter/grower is formulated to where they don't have to have grit to digest it. If you don't have grit or cannot find it, don't panic.

I personally like to give them grit since I think it helps set their digestive tract up the way it is supposed to work. And you don't have to worry if they eat something you had not planned on them eating. Chickens grind their food in their gizzard with the aid of small pebbles and sand they have swallowed. Grown chickens can use anything from sand to small pebbles the size of a pea as grit, but baby chicks need grit the size of sand. Many people use parakeet grit from a pet store. I just took some sand from a pile I had, put it in a small yogurt cup wired to the side of the brooder, and let them have at it. It worked well.

Good luck!!!