When can I…

[Missmackworth]

Hello all! New to chicken keeping, we just got our baby chicks 3 days ago so predicting they’re about 4/5 days old. When can I start incorporating fresh herbs into their diet / putting them into the brooder? Everyone seems happy and healthy so far.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

When they are a few months old would be a good time probably.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Fresh herbs from your yard? I'm not following the importance of this.... ?? Do they have chick grit? You can introduce your soil to them at a few weeks old. I use a pan with mostly sand (my soil is sandy,) at 2 weeks old. They love it for a baby dust bath and it serves as grit so they can then potentially have grass (or herbs,) from my garden but I don't actually put any vegetation in the brooder, that comes later when they're free-ranging age (8 weeks is when I do it.)

 

[Ridgerunner]

When can I start incorporating fresh herbs into their diet / putting them into the brooder?

Whenever they have grit so they can grind them up in their gizzard. One of the first thing a broody hen does is take their chicks where they can peck at the ground and get grit, if they can. After that the chicks can eat anything the hen can as long as it is not too big for them. You can offer the fresh herbs to them now if they have had grit but don't be surprised if they don't immediately eat them. Just be patient and let them work that out at their pace.

Fresh herbs from your yard? I'm not following the importance of this.... ?

Many people give their chicks and chickens all kinds of things in the water or feed it to them. They eat and drink a lot of things themselves. That could be vinegar, electrolytes, or probiotics, can be herbs, spices, DE, who knows what. Different herbs and spices can affect the body, either yours or chickens. That's been proven, but some do nothing at all.

Are these things necessary? Since I don't use them and my chickens do great I don't consider them necessary. Do they do any harm? Of course it depends on what the herb or spice is, but generally as long as you feed them moderately and don't go overboard, they do no harm.

Do they do any good? Some people obviously think so. There is a whole industry that tells people the benefits of different herbs and such, often in the form of teas. Some people like to put herbs in the nest or bedding for the smell, even if they are not consumed. It smells better, at least to the human. I'm not going to criticize anyone that does this type of thing. They can be right just as easily as I can.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

That's the value of Herbs in general, which I do totally agree with and enjoy out of my own herb garden. When I say I don't follow the importance, I mean the importance of offering herbs to chicks who are not even a week old yet. I definitely didn't mean the importance(value) of herbs, sorry for the confusion. With baby chicks he most practical move is don't do it so soon. Hang tight a bit.... Just my 2 cents as well as our local "Fran the Chicken Lady."