Basil flowers and baby chicks?

[JulieBeth07]

Newbie alert**
The girls are about 3 weeks old (we also have 2 ducklings in the brooder). I have them on starter feed.. haven't started grit or treats.

My basil was flowering and I pinched them off. I know basil can be good for chickens but wasnt sure about the babies. Can I introduce this to them? I wasn't sure because it has our outside dirt and they haven't started grit if it was ok? If I could start the grit and give them the basil .. or one or the other or neither lol.

 

[chickenlittle21]

Yes, if you start giving them grit then you can give them basil.

 

[JulieBeth07]

Yes, if you start giving them grit then you can give them basil.

Should I introduce the grit first and wait to give them the basil, or can I do both simultaneously?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

I'd give them the grit first by a few hours to see if they eat it. That way it will be waiting in their gizzard for the basil. There is no absolute guarantee they will eat either one.

It sounds like you don't have any adults. I start feeding dirt from my main run where the adults are to the chicks in the brooder on Day 2 or Day 3. This gets grit into their system and any probiotics the adults have, plus they start working on flock immunities. With no adults they won't get any probiotics, but there could be something in the dirt they might need to work on immunity against.

My philosophy is not to raise them in a sterile environment and then toss them out to the cold cruel world with no protection, but to start strengthening their immune system as soon as I can. Get then ready to face the world. OK, that's a bit dramatic, but you get the idea.

 

[JulieBeth07]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

I'd give them the grit first by a few hours to see if they eat it. That way it will be waiting in their gizzard for the basil. There is no absolute guarantee they will eat either one.

It sounds like you don't have any adults. I start feeding dirt from my main run where the adults are to the chicks in the brooder on Day 2 or Day 3. This gets grit into their system and any probiotics the adults have, plus they start working on flock immunities. With no adults they won't get any probiotics, but there could be something in the dirt they might need to work on immunity against.

My philosophy is not to raise them in a sterile environment and then toss them out to the cold cruel world with no protection, but to start strengthening their immune system as soon as I can. Get then ready to face the world. OK, that's a bit dramatic, but you get the idea.

No we dont have any adults. I was thinking about taking them out to the run (supervised of course) for a few mins. Would that be an ok thing?

 

[JulieBeth07]

No we dont have any adults. I was thinking about taking them out to the run (supervised of course) for a few mins. Would that be an ok thing?

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

I'd give them the grit first by a few hours to see if they eat it. That way it will be waiting in their gizzard for the basil. There is no absolute guarantee they will eat either one.

It sounds like you don't have any adults. I start feeding dirt from my main run where the adults are to the chicks in the brooder on Day 2 or Day 3. This gets grit into their system and any probiotics the adults have, plus they start working on flock immunities. With no adults they won't get any probiotics, but there could be something in the dirt they might need to work on immunity against.

My philosophy is not to raise them in a sterile environment and then toss them out to the cold cruel world with no protection, but to start strengthening their immune system as soon as I can. Get then ready to face the world. OK, that's a bit dramatic, but you get the idea.

Thank you so much! I have grit in their brooders now.

 

[Ridgerunner]

No we dont have any adults. I was thinking about taking them out to the run (supervised of course) for a few mins. Would that be an ok thing?

Many people do that. The chicks enjoy it, it helps get them acclimated to the weather, and acclimated to their future environment. I don't know where you are located or what your weather is like but you may be surprised how much they enjoy it out there and how well they can handle the weather.

 

[JulieBeth07]

Many people do that. The chicks enjoy it, it helps get them acclimated to the weather, and acclimated to their future environment. I don't know where you are located or what your weather is like but you may be surprised how much they enjoy it out there and how well they can handle the weather.

I'm in south Florida... it's like a brooder outside!

 

[chickenlittle21]

I also live in south Florida. It is VERY HOT!

 

[JulieBeth07]

I just clicked on your profile! I'm in Fort pierce! We're practically neighbors