What's this? Feeding eggs to your week old chicks? how?

[manchick]

What exactly does this entail?

 

[speckledhen]

You hard boil an egg and mash it up very fine, then just put it in a bowl or plate or offer it in your hand. They may balk at eating it at first, but once they get a good taste, they love it and will chase each other with pieces of egg in their mouths.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Sometimes I'll scramble eggs and mince them. It's easy to do in minutes in a greased bowl or plate in the microwave. I don't know who enjoys it more, the chicks grabbing, chirping & eating, or us watching their show.

 

[manchick]

I'm going to assume this is a good source of protien, and also a good source of grit if you pulverize the shells??!

 

[shay20]

HAHA that sound sooo cute to watch, i think im gonna try it, do you mash up the shells to for them?

 

[mjane]

I've never did that til they were older but once I get some new chicks I will have to try it. How much do you feed say a batch of 25 chicks?

 

[manchick]

How early do you think I should try this??

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Eggshell is not the same as grit.

I suggest you limit the protien you feed them. Commercial feeds include all they need and anything more is OK until they are about 8 weeks. After that, excessive protien can cause joint problems like those experienced by heavy meat birds during their rapid growth. After 3 months of age, one egg per week per bird, spread out over the course of a week is OK.

 

[manchick]

Do I need to add some kind of "grit" to their food or is there something in the starter mix to take care of that? I got my starter from a friend and there is no literature as to whats in it??!!

 

[speckledhen]

Do not give them shells at all! They are too young for calcium. I feed chicks a little egg every few days, not every day, and not much. I dont feed grit myself when I do the soft eggs. And no other treats. I think you can feed chicks way too many treats, which messes with the protein and vitamin levels of the starter. They do well on starter alone.