What snacks or treats can you give baby chicks? Mine are 3 days to a week old.

[Foreverblessed2013]

What snacks or treats can you give baby chicks? Mine are 3 days to a week old.

 

[RojoMarz]

Mash (normal chick food and enough water to make it mushy)

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

I crush up mealworms for my youngers, just get a small handful and crush it up. My olders love blueberries but the smallers can’t eat it.
Small things like seeds, nothing too big because I don’t think they understand it’s food unless it’s small

 

[GreenJay]

Scrambled eggs are usually a big hit.

 

[mossyoakpro]

Mash (normal chick food and enough water to make it mushy)

^^^^ this works like a charm!!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Wet food is all mine get as a “treat” unless they find something when I have them outside until they are 8 weeks old. This is my personal preference based on how even wild birds only eat pre-digested food for the first few weeks of life. Mammals only drink milk for at least the first few weeks to moths. I think any newborn should only be eating easily digestible food that is either made specifically for newborns or given by their mother. I have not done too much research on the subject in regards to chickens and I am by no means saying this is a fact, but I have noticed that many people who tend to have chickens with all of the crop issues also tend to give treats early on. I have yet to deal with a crop issue, but I know several people who seem to have a crop issue pop up 1-2 times a year at least and they also love to give chicks treats early on. Just my observation though and why I choose to only give wet feed and what they find foraging at this age.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What snacks or treats can you give baby chicks? Mine are 3 days to a week old.

One of the first things my broody hens do after bringing baby chicks off of the nest is take them to a bit of ground where they can peck at the ground. They eat some dirt, which gives them some minerals, and may get bits and pieces of vegetative matter, but a big thing they get is grit. After they get grit into their gizzard they can pretty much eat anything the hen can eat. There are size limitations, of course, but if the broody catches a big bug she'll shred it to chick sized bites.

I'm not a broody hen but I do get grit into their system early on. I don't give them any special treats in the brooder but they are ready in case they eat a bit of bedding or a bug somehow wanders into the brooder. I remember when my wife swatted a wasp and dropped it in the brooder. The chicks had so much fun playing keep away until it was finally dismantled and eaten.

If they have not had grit then they should only eat things that don't need to be ground in their gizzard. Chicken feed is ground before it is formed into pellets or crumbles so no grit needed. Boiled or scrambled eggs do not require grit. Some people give yogurt. There are things they can eat without grit but be a bit careful.

 

[Foreverblessed2013]

Mash (normal chick food and enough water to make it mushy)

I did this! They loved it! How often should you do this?

 

[Foreverblessed2013]

I crush up mealworms for my youngers, just get a small handful and crush it up. My olders love blueberries but the smallers can’t eat it.
Small things like seeds, nothing too big because I don’t think they understand it’s food unless it’s small

Do you do real or dried mealworms?

 

[mossyoakpro]

I did this! They loved it! How often should you do this?

I was doing twice a day but now just once...