Will this harm them? Please help

[judial8907]

My baby chicks (6 of them) are taking lessons from mama and I wonder if they are taking one to many. I have them all (mama too) in a large "brooding" box in my home until I have replaced the bedding in my coop. Anyhow the mama is still eating regular chicken food and I have chick starter for the chicks, mama does not really eat the chick food and sticks to her own. But the babies see mom eating her food and they are going for it too, they do eat their food but like the regular food especially when mom gets it everywhere. I am worried that this is not good for them but, when they go out to the coop I know that even with the starter there they will eat the other food too. Will they be alright? I don't want to seperate them from mom because I worry that intergrating them into my coop will be harder if I do that. Any suggestions

 

[dianaross77]

If it's layer feed then yes it can hurt the babies. Just take the layer feed out and feed mom and babies the same food and offer oyster shell on the side if the hen has resumed laying after brooding. If she hasn't then she won't really need the extra calcium anyway. Or you could move the feeder up so the hen can reach but the babies can't.

 

[Breac]

The large amounts of calcium in layer feed can damage the livers of baby chicks if they eat too much of it. Stick to giving everyone starter feed. It won't harm the hens, since they aren't going to be laying while caring for the chicks.