Yogurt, good for chicks, bad for you!

[cmtigger]

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Yeah, I just lost an Easter Egger, and went out and bought 5 more. It's a good thing I can have 100 on my property (and I won't even approach that number) and I told a cousin she could have a couple hens if she wanted to sneak them in the city.

 

[ErinG]

That is hilarious! My girls love yogurt, but we had a yogurt mishap at our house too. A lot got into my easter egger's beard, I should have wiped it off of her, but this chicken hates me - makes angry noises every time I am around, I swear I am nice to them! Anyway two days later I realized she had NO beard. Just a bare patch under her throat. The others must have plucked it right out of her! Poor girl. The good news is it is growing back and I have learned my lesson!

 

[PeepsBMobbin]

I actually mix my plain yogurt in with the chick starter to make kind of a mush, then I put that on a plate. It sticks together well so they have to peck at it to eat it and if they step right in it they are not going to be covered in yogurt, it actually softens the chick starter too and I think they like the different texture. (I used to feed my real babies their baby cereal mixed this way.... hee hee. Lots of practice with that one!) ANywho, the baby chicks LOVE it and go nuts when I bring it out to them.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

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That's exactly what mine did! I read City Chicks before I got my chicks, so I couldn't wait until they were old enough for yogurt treats and those 'gruel' recipes where you cook up oatmeal, flax and mix in cooked veggies. I am positive I heard the word "YUCK" from the chicks as they frantically wiped their beaks on the floor. My prissy little girls didn't like anything sticky or gooey. They didn't like their veggies cooked. When I stopped chopping their boiled eggs up until they were mush and added finely grated raw carrot was when they started to go wild over treats.

 

[FMAFarms]

Remember that yogurt (plain, Greek-style with acidopholus) is good for chickens, but only in moderation. About a tablespoon for every 8 birds, spread out in a flat container (a yogurt lid works very well). Yogurt helps the chickens biuld up their naturally occurring flora. But too much yogurt gives chickens diarrhea. Once a week is plenty.

Don't remember who posted about the chicks hating the yogurt and wiping their faces. That's how they clean their faces, by wiping their beaks on the litter, shavings, etc. That doesn't mean they hate! That's how they'll react to anything that is moist, including suet. If you leve a little plate in with them for a couple of hours, you'll see how it'll be pecked at until gone. But be sure you somehow keep the plate steady (we used duct tape on the underside of the lid and attach it to a brick to elevate it off the pine shavings). If it slides around, it'll get covered with shavings, hay, poop, you name it. I have one chick that purposely used to knock the yogurt container off the brick so no one else would want to eat it. Then she'd drag it across the brooder and eat it all by herself. We remedied that quickly!

 

[wawasmama]

What a great story! I'm going to try giving them a bit from my spoon tomorrow morning. Thanks for the laugh!