Chick Feed
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Pottyaboutveg
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We have 4 chicks 1 week old now and I am feeding them on chick crumbs and I am also feeding the Mam on chick feed as well how soon can I give them some treats eg Spinach, grapes ect. and does the mam need grit as I have been told not to give the chicks any grit if so has anyone any ideas how I can give the mam grit without the chicks getting to it.
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alan refail
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Dear Potty...
Keep them all on chick crumbs for another 3 to 4 weeks.
As for "treats", about three weeks old they will happily peck at greens such as cabbage and lettuce leaves (I personally would avoid spinach as being too acid).
Forget grit. My hens which are free range have never had access to grit - they get enough from the field. Chickens need grit in their gizzard to help it grind up their food, but chick crumbs go down easily enough anyway.
You don't say where your brood is - indoors or outdoors. My chicks and broodies are always outside on grass. So mother gets any grit she might need from scratching - the chicks discover their own treats when they are ready in the shape of grass.
Enjoy the chicks
Alan
P.S.
You can follow my this year's brood on this thread - CLICK HERE
Keep them all on chick crumbs for another 3 to 4 weeks.
As for "treats", about three weeks old they will happily peck at greens such as cabbage and lettuce leaves (I personally would avoid spinach as being too acid).
Forget grit. My hens which are free range have never had access to grit - they get enough from the field. Chickens need grit in their gizzard to help it grind up their food, but chick crumbs go down easily enough anyway.
You don't say where your brood is - indoors or outdoors. My chicks and broodies are always outside on grass. So mother gets any grit she might need from scratching - the chicks discover their own treats when they are ready in the shape of grass.
Enjoy the chicks
Alan
P.S.
You can follow my this year's brood on this thread - CLICK HERE
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Pottyaboutveg
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Alan, thank you very much for your help. What worries me is when you said that spinach is very acidy my hens love it, should I not feed this to them??
By the way I love your photos.
Potty
By the way I love your photos.
Potty
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alan refail
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If your hens like spinach - then it's perfectly OK - they won't eat what's bad for them. I just thought it might be a bit acid for young chicks. After five or six weeks they can be treated more like adult birds.
Surprise, surprise - hens and chicks just love Chickweed. I've noticed that when given a choice they will always go for the weed. Lettuce is also a good treat of greens. Bread crusts give them something to different to peck at - preferably wholemeal.
As Alan says hens never seem to eat anything that going to harm them - they have an uncanny ability to eat just what they need.
John
As Alan says hens never seem to eat anything that going to harm them - they have an uncanny ability to eat just what they need.
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
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Pottyaboutveg
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Thank you very much Alan for your advice, these are the first chicks our Orpington Broody hen has hatched and we are enjoying every minuite mind you they seem as though they are getting bigger by the minuite as well. The broody hen is now moulting is this normal I know that they moult once a year and to be honest I cannot remember whether it was this time last year or not I thought it was later as I was concerned about her getting too cold.?
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Pottyaboutveg
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Hello Diane
Yes, I was a bit concerned at first about her moulting as I thought it could be mites, but I think it is just that she is in moult. It always seems worse with Clarrie because she has that many feathers when she moults there are enough to make a feather pillow. Good luck with your hens isn't it fantastic to what them grow. Glen
Yes, I was a bit concerned at first about her moulting as I thought it could be mites, but I think it is just that she is in moult. It always seems worse with Clarrie because she has that many feathers when she moults there are enough to make a feather pillow. Good luck with your hens isn't it fantastic to what them grow. Glen