When to introduce treats

[OrpingtonHopeful]

I have seen the very wonderful, comprehensive treat chart here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

but WHEN can you begin offering treats, and what are the best 'beginner' foods? I was wondering especially about yogurts, scrambled eggs, etc-

Also should fruits and veggies be organic? I have some lovely strawberries, but I know they tend to hold more pesticides and I am fairly sure the farm they were picked from is not organic

Are there worries about allergies, etc with chicks as well?

I would love some sort of schedule (like the pediatrician gave us for my DD- begin with green veggies, then orange at 6-9 months, no milk until 1 yr, no nuts or nut products til age 2, etc)

Thanks for any help/advice you can offer!

Best wishes,
Sarah

 

[Cats Critters]

I started giving mine (and am starting my new chicks) with treats at two weeks, I just started by giving them scrambled eggs, yogurt , or banana then and add a couple more every couple weeks.

Also should fruits and veggies be organic?

They don't have to be, you can just give them your regular veggies like the ones you eat.

Are there worries about allergies, etc with chicks as well?

Not that I know of.
Good luck and don't be discouraged if they are afraid of the treats at first just lit them sit and they will try it after a while.​

 

[firedove]

You will hear a lot of opinions on when chicks can start having treats. The most important thing is that they have grit before they have any solid treats. They can have yogurt before they have grit. My first batch of chicks this year started with grit at 5 days and then broccoli buds at 8 days. I slowly introduced larger treats as they got older. By two weeks old they were eating "spikes" which are a little fishing bait grub that turns into a moth if left to it's own devices. I gave them mostly plain yogurt (food colored red so they wanted it), green veggies, those spikes, and crumbled boiled egg. Some people like to use scrambled eggs but when you scramble an egg you tend to use oil or butter to keep the egg from sticking and both butter (because of salt) and oil are not great for the little ones. I suppose if you used unsalted butter it wouldn't be so bad to scramble them, or if you had a good pan that could scramble an egg without anything.

Just an aside, some people say that using nonstick cookware while keeping chicks in the house can kill your chicks because of toxic fumes. Personally I use non-stick in my kitchen all the time and have never lost a chick from the adjoining room, but it's best to be aware that it is a possible threat.

As long as your chicks are getting plenty of grit they can have any treat they can comfortably swallow. Be careful of big or long treats, like grass, as they can block up the crop and cause impaction. *Most* chicks will not eat things that are too big for them, they will pick up big pieces, try to turn them to fit down, and drop them if they are too big, but long thin treats will sometimes get eaten and cause problems later.

 

[Eggie and Me]

We started treats at 5 days. We ground oatmeal in a grinder and they went wild. We introduced extra small crickets at 8 days only because we watched them hunt down and catch some poor innocent flying thing that wondered into their brooders air space my mistake.

Was the funniest thing I've seen, Jurastic Park Chicks. Now they are a few days short of 6 weeks and have been in their enclosed yard and coop for a few days and eat everything and anything they can get a hold of. And YES be sure to provide grit. We sifted our for the first few weeks because we just felt some of the pieces were to big.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. A chicken's food goes, as is, into the crop, where it is slowly funneled into a very small " stomach" for some digestive additives--then to the Gizzard, where it is 'chewed', that is, ground into material that can be digested as it moves into the intestines and so on. The Gizzard is best able to break down whole grains and other chunky bits that they eat when full of grit. Longest lasting grit is Granite, that lasts well. All other rock and stone is so much softer, that it wears down fast and that is why granite grit is best choice, works really well for best utilization of feeds. My baby chicks are given free choice and they choose it with pleasure, baby grit is fine Granite, as soon as they are given anything besides Starter Crumbles. Their tiny gizzards are at optimum function at an early age. I first give my chicks some treats such as rolled oats, lettuce, vegie scraps at 2/3 weeks with a dish of free choice chick grit. The TSC where I live carries chick grit.

 

[kelseygirl707]

I threw in a few lettuce scraps at 2 weeks, then some tiny crickets today at 3 weeks, they were soo cute, first they freaked and huddled in the corner, then one went for a crickett, then they all started going crazy catching them, and chasing whoever had one! It was sooo amusing!

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Thanks for the detailed and helpful info on treats for the babies!!

Mine are 1 week tomorrow and have already had some grit and one wood tick!

Which they found in their brooder, we have so many of those darn things around here and they seem to be everywhere! How the unfortunate tick managed to find his way into the chicks brooder I still don't know cuz they are in my spare room, I'm assuming I brought it in with me as I am always outside! What a good place he ended up huh!

They had fun with it but it was so small not much to go around!!

 

[OrpingtonHopeful]

Thank you all so much for sharing your treat experiences.

Do you think it would be okay to give strawberry yogurt (my daughter has the all natural ones) or is that too "junk" foodie?

Sounds like crickets will be a blast!!

We picked our babies up from the feed store on Tues, so today is 5 days- They all still had their egg teeth, and the live shipping chicks box was still beside the brooder, so I believe they were all just a day old-

The first night we had them they suffered a bit of cold stress when an area wide power outage turned off the brooder light- We managed to keep them warm with hot water bottles and by filling the tub with hot water to keep the room warm-

One had pasted vent and was lethargic the next morning- I cleaned her up and hand fed her her mash mixed with water and a bit of sugar water- They all seemed fine after that, the stressed one perked up and eat and drank and ran amuck with the others, but this am another one had a pasted vent- I had two heat lamps (cause my brooder is a long and deep rubbermaid XL and that still barely keeps it at 90ish) but I just turned one off because they all stayed on the cool side and never ventured under the lamps and I read that pasted vent can be due to overheating too?

So I am wondering about nutrient rich treats to perk them up and be sure they have all they need, etc. Is there anything else I should do for these loves- They all seemed so well after that initial awful day- all are eating and drinking-

Also, I have been giving them grit since the start as I called the mfg of the feed I am using (sweetest ppl ever!- Cleveland Feed Chick Starter amd Grower Crumbles by Eagle Roller Mill) and they said to add grit, so I have been adding a good pinch to each feed change)-

I guess I am trying to make sure I am doing this right. I never expected that second pasted vent this am- I didn't think they were stressed-

So now this has gone off on an tangent, but I will happily take all advice, treat or general care

Thanks again- This has been such an amazing learning process already!

Best wishes,
Sarah