When do you start giving baby chicks grit?

[Rick&Chris]

Chicks do not need grit until they eat something other than Chick Starter Crumbles. Saying that,,,,,,,,, it does not mean you can not offer grit to them. They will pick it up as they see need. Offer it free-choice when you start to give them treats like greens and such. Of course they do need it when they start to munch on grains.
Pine shavings is something chicks may pick up with their beak, but not likely to eat it. Everyone is using it for their chicks, and I have not heard any problems arising.
You coop is sized correctly for the amount of chicken you want/intend to keep. If you can free range your HONEYS,,,,,, YOU CAN POSSIBLY SQUEEZE A FEW MORE. Most problems occur when chickens are overcrowded in daytime run area. You will know how your chickens behave/interact with each other when grown. You can make your own judgment call then.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

Thank you!!! I’m super excited!!! Please see my comment below regarding the coop space and free ranging. Thanks!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Thanks for the reply. Each section is 6’x6’ - they would have full run of both sections all day long. We do plan on doing an outside / fenced area around the entire unit by next spring - this would be supervised ONLY until we get some sort of bird netting for the top. So you still think 8 birds max?

Also, when can I start giving them treats, other than their chick starter, and what is recommended for babies?

I would still recommend 8 birds maximum. Birds don't stay in the coop during the day unless they are broody, laying an egg, or sick. Most of the day, they mill about looking for scraps, scratching in the dirt. That's where the need for activity "play yard" is important.

4 square feet per bird is really a minimum and only acceptable if they are getting a good deal of larger range time to get those scratching urges out. Otherwise, they begin to pick on each other (depending upon the temperament of the birds).

So 8 birds would be the maximum until you can build an outer run with netting over it. 10 square feet per bird ranging is recommended if they are kept in that area all day long....that would require 80 feet for 8 birds, so you are a bit shy of that at 72 feet of scratching room (under the coop and into the run...they'll be everywhere there is dirt).

As to giving treats, refrain when they are very little chicks as they need to eat their real food for all those nutrients and be in the habit of eating it for satisfaction.

Then treats should never exceed 10% of their diet. The best treats are mealworms, black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) and in winter cracked corn (although that is a lot of empty calories but can help with generating body heat).

I generally just buy inexpensive wild bird seed that is a mix of millet (which they LOVE), BOSS, corn and wheat....but I limit it to just a bit sprinkled on the ground when I come to let them out in the morning and pull them in close to evening...which greatly helps round them up...shake the treat bucket, and they come running.

LofMc

 

[Rick&Chris]

I would still recommend 8 birds maximum. Birds don't stay in the coop during the day unless they are broody, laying an egg, or sick. Most of the day, they mill about looking for scraps, scratching in the dirt. That's where the need for activity "play yard" is important.

4 square feet per bird is really a minimum and only acceptable if they are getting a good deal of larger range time to get those scratching urges out. Otherwise, they begin to pick on each other (depending upon the temperament of the birds).

So 8 birds would be the maximum until you can build an outer run with netting over it. 10 square feet per bird ranging is recommended if they are kept in that area all day long....that would require 80 feet for 8 birds, so you are a bit shy of that at 72 feet of scratching room (under the coop and into the run...they'll be everywhere there is dirt).

As to giving treats, refrain when they are very little chicks as they need to eat their real food for all those nutrients and be in the habit of eating it for satisfaction.

Then treats should never exceed 10% of their diet. The best treats are mealworms, black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) and in winter cracked corn (although that is a lot of empty calories but can help with generating body heat).

I generally just buy inexpensive wild bird seed that is a mix of millet (which they LOVE), BOSS, corn and wheat....but I limit it to just a bit sprinkled on the ground when I come to let them out in the morning and pull them in close to evening...which greatly helps round them up...shake the treat bucket, and they come running.

LofMc

Thanks! The outside fenced free range area can be as large as we need it to be. We have a pretty large yard, so we can definitely do larger than 80 square feet. That space will be added after winter. Once I move them to the outdoor coop, they will have supervised access to the prefab fenced area until they are old enough and fully feathered.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Love the pics!
With my little ones I usually put in a card board box (think shoe box TOP) to start at about 3weeks. (Depends on the amount of chicks vs size of box)I use a shovel of dirt from my back yard. It’s completely adorable how they TRY to dust bathe....yes they sure do!!
I think where people can go wrong IS they will try to give them goodies, lettuce or God forbid BREAD! Without any GRIT!! A terrible idea!!! Can lead to AWFUL/DEADLY problems.
When they are tiny it’s best not to give scraps or goodies they cannot DIGEST it without grit.
With that being said. I will confess that I gave mine crushed meal worms as their first treat. I hand raised all mine and that is how we started bonding.
The bigger they got the bigger the box and I’d replace the dirt every couple of days.
The video of their first baths-priceless. And yes they knew just what do do and pick out the tiny grit they needed.
Best wishes

 

[rosemarythyme]

Each section is 6’x6’ - they would have full run of both sections all day long. We do plan on doing an outside / fenced area around the entire unit by next spring - this would be supervised ONLY until we get some sort of bird netting for the top. So you still think 8 birds max?

Ok, I hadn't expanded the coop photo so I see what you mean, it's 6x12 including the area under the coop. Still on the small side but since the chicks are young, they'll be a little more forgiving of space limits until springtime.

I think 8 chickens is a good number for the space you have right now. But I'd recommend keeping all the chicks for the time being - sometimes a chick just doesn't make it, sometimes you end up with an accidental boy - so that should guarantee you end up with 8 hens (assuming you want all girls). And if you keep the excess chickens until they're a little older, you should be able to sell them as people look to buy pullets close to point of lay.

 

[Rick&Chris]

Thanks everyone! Appreciate ALL of your input!!! This is a great site, filled with some very knowledgeable people, always willing to help! Thank you!!

 

[chickens really]

Hello...
When my incubator Chicks are two days old I toss Grit onto the shavings and I give them a spear of Cucumber, broccoli or Apple to pick at...They have more fun scratching for Grit.

 

[fur-mum]

I always give grit free choice because I figure they'll take it if they need it. As for room to roam, I can say from experience the more the better. I had a huge run that they killed down to dirt before I started letting them just roam the entire yard. They still have spots they destroy and go everywhere, but they're definitely happier. They used to run up and down the fence when I'd go outside waiting for me to let them out.

 

[aart]

I add a hunk of sod with dirt attached (from near the chicken run) to the brooder end of week one and sprinkle chick sized granite grit onto it.
http://www.jupefeeds-sa.com/documents/GraniteGrit.pdf
You can buy chick sized grit or sift it out of 'adult' sized grit using a colander with 1/8" holes in it.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... My... question is, when do you start giving chicks grit?...

Baby chick grit is the very first thing I give my chicks. I use wire bottomed brooder pens that are divided in half by 2" X 4" welded wire. These pens are 12" off the ground and as soon as the hen leaves the nest with her babies I put a dollop of chick grit on a piece of cardboard and set it in front of them.

Chicks have an instinctive pecking response and they learn about their world by pecking and eating anything that fails to eat them first. This grit is eagerly consumed. within an hour or two I then give them some raw (dry) old fashioned oatmeal and a mashed up hard boiled egg. Medicated baby chick feed is then provided free choice but I still give boiled egg and oatmeal.

I feed my hen in a cup hanging on the opposite side of the welded wire divider and all my baby chick feed is fed on the opposite side of the welder wire divider. The reason for this is because a hens' instinct is to grab the chicks feeder and upend it so that she can scratch the feed around and pick out the choice pieces to feed her babies. When the mama hen overturns her chicks food it all spills out & immediately falls through the 1/4 hardware cloth floor and is lost to your chicks.

I use stand alone nests that are easy to move about with the hen sitting in it and try to keep the mother to be confined to this pen while she incubates, then it is her decision when to leave the nest with her children. In a situation like this I never have problems with staggered hatches or with a setting hen returning to the wrong nest or clutch. Of course there is never a problem with hen on hen aggression.

An alternative is to put a heat lamp on one side of the divider, hang a curtain, and allow the motherless peeps (incubator hatched chicks) to move from one end of the brooder pen to the other as the temperature demands.