Treats for chicks and other food questions.

[NatJ]

I can barely manage to get my cat to not be licking something inappropriate during a photo... Y'all are obviously way more talented than I.

What a professional photographer can do, and what I can personally do, are quite different things

 

[NatJ]

Admins, I'm very disappointed that you picked an AI image to represent this thread to be featured on the front page There are so many wonderful real photos of cute real chicks, both on and off BYC, let's not give in to AI crap!

I see a different photo on the front page now, and this one looks real

 

[KimbosKluckers]

Earlier in this post I said the chicks seemed scared of me, fluttering etc…what a difference almost 2 weeks made…they now come running to me and poking the top of the brooder to get out, eat from my hand etc yay! I’m going to take them outside for the first time later today. So excited.

 

[Maddcatter]

Earlier in this post I said the chicks seemed scared of me, fluttering etc…what a difference almost 2 weeks made…they now come running to me and poking the top of the brooder to get out, eat from my hand etc yay! I’m going to take them outside for the first time later today. So excited.

Congrats!
These are my ducklings at about 3 weeks old. They are hoping my hand is a treat...

 

[K0k0shka]

I see a different photo on the front page now, and this one looks real

I'm glad the admins did the right thing and changed it.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

Awww so adorable i

Congrats!
These are my ducklings at about 3 weeks old. They are hoping my hand is a treat..

 

[RoyalChick]

One thing I didn’t see mentioned is grit. @KimbosKluckers i see you have them sand. That is great. I am sure they have a blast kicking that around. I am not sure though that sand is a good substitute for grit.
They should have grit if they are eating anything other than their chick starter feed.
You can buy chick grit which is smaller than the grit for regular grown chickens. Or you can go dig up some dirt from the garden that has different size stones in it and let them choose.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

One thing I didn’t see mentioned is grit. @KimbosKluckers i see you have them sand. That is great. I am sure they have a blast kicking that around. I am not sure though that sand is a good substitute for grit.
They should have grit if they are eating anything other than their chick starter feed.
You can buy chick grit which is smaller than the grit for regular grown chickens. Or you can go dig up some dirt from the garden that has different size stones in it and let them choose.

Oh ok. I get so many conflicting answers lol. I was thinking sand was like grit. I’ll get some then before anymore snacks. Thank you. They’re outside in the dirt today for the first time. I’m not sure the dirt is gritty though. But nothing other than their crumbles.

 

[NatJ]

Oh ok. I get so many conflicting answers lol. I was thinking sand was like grit. I’ll get some then before anymore snacks. Thank you. They’re outside in the dirt today for the first time. I’m not sure the dirt is gritty though. But nothing other than their crumbles.

Grit is little rocks.
Sand is little rocks.

But sand might not be the right size rocks.
Rocks that are too big will get ignored by the chicks. Rocks that are too small might get eaten, but will go right through the chicken instead of staying in the gizzard to grind up food.

Buying grit is one way to be sure the chicks have rocks of an appropriate size. There will be a variety of sizes in the grit bag, so the chickens have some choice, but they will mostly be in a size range that will work.

If you do buy grit, check the prices. I find that two 5-pound bags usually cost about the same as one 25-pound bag. Grit doesn't go bad, and it is heavy enough that even 25 pounds doesn't take all that much space to store, so the big bag may be the better deal.

For chicks that are almost 5 weeks old now, I would probably not bother buying chick grit. Grit for adult chickens should have some pieces that are small enough for 5-week chicks. The grit may be labeled for "pullets" or "hens" or some such term. (But if you do buy chick grit, you can save any leftovers for chicks in future years.)

 

[KimbosKluckers]

Grit is little rocks.
Sand is little rocks.

But sand might not be the right size rocks.
Rocks that are too big will get ignored by the chicks. Rocks that are too small might get eaten, but will go right through the chicken instead of staying in the gizzard to grind up food.

Buying grit is one way to be sure the chicks have rocks of an appropriate size. There will be a variety of sizes in the grit bag, so the chickens have some choice, but they will mostly be in a size range that will work.

If you do buy grit, check the prices. I find that two 5-pound bags usually cost about the same as one 25-pound bag. Grit doesn't go bad, and it is heavy enough that even 25 pounds doesn't take all that much space to store, so the big bag may be the better deal.

For chicks that are almost 5 weeks old now, I would probably not bother buying chick grit. Grit for adult chickens should have some pieces that are small enough for 5-week chicks. The grit may be labeled for "pullets" or "hens" or some such term. (But if you do buy chick grit, you can save any leftovers for chicks in future years.)

Got it. Makes sense. Luckily they haven’t had much other than crumbles, a boiled egg once, yogurt (which they refused) and a few ground up mealworms twice. I will get grit. Nothing harmful using adult grit at 5 weeks then? Don’t curse me with future chicks