What to feed chicks in emergency?

[lzoloth]

Our chicks are 2 weeks old, we have run out of Chick Starter, & the new supply we ordered hasn't come yet. Is it okay to feed them Egg-A-Day, just until the Chick Starter comes? If not, what can we feed them?

 

[goldensunriseranch]

I've used corn meal before, and quaker oats. Probably not great for long term but it filled their bellies until the feed store opened. Also when I had a moment I found them some buggies and worms.

 

[chickenfanatic]

well im not exactly sure what egg a day is but i will say this one time the feed store was closed for 4 days to to rain damage here and we fed our egg maker from walmart its basically layer crumbles i mashed them a lil more than they were but it worked real fine till the feedstore opened hope this helps

 

[goldensunriseranch]

layer is actually very bad for chicks, it causes kidney failure. just an FYI.

 

[Wildsky]

Perhaps give them a little variety of whatever you have on hand, cooked rice, oatmeal, scrambled or boiled egg chopped up, veggies chopped up, bird seeds perhaps - I wouldn't suggest that for a long term solution - a day or so I think wouldn't be too bad...

 

[EliteTempleton]

Egg a day sounds like it has calcium in it. To much of that when they are young can cause kidney failure.

What about grower feed? I don't know but wouldn't that work? Then you would already have a bag when it was time to give it to them, that is if that have that on hand.

I hear they like yogurt, and that would probably be good for them. Many people suggest giving this to them when they are sick, so why not when they are healthy?

When my chicks were young I would go out and find them some(5 or less bugs for the 3 of them) bugs nearly every day, it was really entertaining to watch and they loved it. Plus it was a great motivator to get rid of the grub problem I had, one at a time! lol!

Mine LOVE bird seed, I give them a handful almost daily still. I did not give them any till they were outside but I don't see why you couldn't fill the time gap with some of that as well, just might have to break up some of the corn and sunflower pieces for them. Plus you can get a pound for $1 or less around here. I have not bought any scratch yet because I have so much bird seed from back when I bought a bunch to feed the wild birds. So I don't know which is cheaper and the ingredient differences.

Also I agree with Wildsky's suggestions.

Maybe even look at the ingredients of the starter and try to come close to it? I wouldn't obsess at trying to match the nutrition, but it couldn't hurt to try while you are waiting for the feed to come in.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I gave mine some scrambled eggs mixed with some dry catfood that I ran through the food processor until it was in crumbles. They scarfed it up!