Can you give plain yogurt to two week old chicks. My pullets love yogurt mixed with any fruit. I know it is good for them, but I don't know about chicks. I think they deserve a healthy treat also minus the fruit. Any educated thoughts?
Quote:Yes, you can give the yogurt. A little fruit is OK too. If you do give the chicks treats, make sure it is less than 10% of their diet, and you may need to provide chick grit for their crop so they can digest it. Imp- I gave my chicks treats on day 1.
BeccaB00, save yourself some money: MAKE INEXPENSIVE YOGURT THE EASY WAY (based on directions from Miss Prissy on the Backyard Chickens forum) by Joe D. Bryant You will need: A small plastic, insulated cooler that will hold: 4 one-quart jars/lids for yogurt/milk OR 2 half-gallon jars/lids for yogurt milk 2 more quart jars to be filled with boiling water A very large pan to first boil water and then heat milk to 185* F. Ingredients: One gallon of milk (1% to 4%) One cup (or two heaping tablespoonsful per quart if not making a whole gallon) of PLAIN yogurt with live culture no flavor no fruit Stonyfield Farms Organic plain yogurt OR Traders Point Creamery plain yogurt are both excellent and are sold by Marsh and other large chain stores for $5 quart. I used an Igloo 26-quart cooler that K-Mart sells for about $20. After the large pan of water is boiling, dip all the jars/lids in for several seconds to sterilize everything. Pour the large pan of boiling water into the cooler and into two quart jars. Put the lids on the jars loosely. Close the coolers lid with the two jars filled and the rest of the boiling water in the bottom of the cooler. Set the cooler aside to heat up and proceed to make the yogurt: After cooling the large pan, use it again to heat one gallon of milk to 185 degrees (I used Anne's meat thermometer because I couldn't find a "candy" thermometer in two stores). Place the hot milk pan in a sink filled with ice water and let it cool to 115 degrees (took about five minutes with ice on outside of pan). Stir in one cup of plain yogurt into the 115* F milk. After mixing well, pour the milk into the four sterilized one-quart glass jars or two half-gallon jars and put on the lids (not tight). Go back to the cooler, set the two quarts of hot water aside for a moment and empty the hot water out of the bottom of the cooler. Set the jars of warm milk/yogurt mix into the cooler with the two jars of boiling water and close the lid. After ten to twelve hours, take out the bottles of milk (finished yogurt) and put them in the refrigerator to cool. Thats it: For the cost of a gallon of milk, you have four quarts of yogurt that are identical to the cup of expensive plain yogurt that you bought. Save a cup of your new yogurt to make another gallon when this one is almost gone.
Mine love homemade yogurt/overripe bananas....they have been getting it since they were lil chicks. Since we are so hot now, I have been freezing it in 3# margarine cartons and cottage cheese cartons. They finished off some this morning in no time!
