What to feed baby chicks treats

What Can Chickens Eat Chicken Treats to Feed and Avoid

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Backyard Poultry

Flock Management : Flock Health

Flock Management : Layer Nutrition

Patrick Biggs, Ph.D.

Nutritionist, Companion Animal Technical Solutions

Healthy chicken treats can be fed in moderation along with a complete chicken feed. Be sure to follow the 90/10 rule – offer 90% complete feed to a maximum of 10% treats each day.

Rhubarbs or roses? Which is a tasty treat for your chickens and which should you avoid? Whether you’re new to backyard chickens or you’ve had a flock for years, it’s important to know the do’s and don’ts of feeding your birds.

As backyard chicken raisers, we love to treat our girls – especially as temperatures warm up and the flock spends more time outside. But it’s not really the treats that make the flock come running, it’s the attention. Chickens will come running for complete feed, just as they would for treats.

Backyard chickens have fewer than 350 taste buds compared to humans’ 10,000. Still, treats and foraging can be fun pastimes for the flock. If you’d like to offer treats and free-range time, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

90/10: The chicken feed rule to follow

Chickens require 38 unique nutrients at the correct levels. Purina^®complete feeds are formulated to meet these demands. Choose one complete starter-grower feed for day 1 through week 18 and one complete layer feed for laying hens.

To prevent nutrient dilution, provide complete feed for at least 90 percent of the bird’s diet. The remaining 10 percent can be filled with chicken treats, table scraps or scratch grains.

But what does the 90/10 rule mean? Laying hens eat approximately 0.25 pounds of complete feed each day, which is about the same as one-half cup. When putting the 90/10 rule into practice, this means treats should not exceed 2 tablespoons. A few small chicken treats are all they should have each day.

For spring-born chicks moving to the coop, continue feeding a complete starter-grower feed until week 18. Wait until the first egg to introduce treats as growing birds require all 38 nutrients in their starter-grower feed to support strong growth.

What are the best treats for chickens?

Treats like scraps, scratch grains and mealworms are like candy for birds, which can quickly spoil their diet. The best treats for chickens are natural, healthy and wholesome.

Purina^® Farm to Flock^™ Treats allow you to spoil your hens but not their diet. Hens receive a mix of grains with vitamins, minerals and amino acids in every bite. These healthy chicken treats are a perfect complement to complete feed.

Purina^® Farm to Flock^™ Treats are available in both 13% protein and 20% protein options. The high protein treat option provides an extra nutritional boost to keep birds strong during times like molt.

What can chickens eat?

If birds free-range or have treat access, start by feeding their complete feed in the morning before they go out exploring. Remember that scratch grains should be viewed as a treat and not be mixed with the complete feed.

Chickens are natural foragers, so trying new foods is inevitable. Chickens tend to avoid foods that are bad or harmful for them, but some are healthier than others.

When it comes to foraging, there is a lengthy list of plants that chickens love as treats. Dark leafy greens can result in darker, richer yolks. Lettuce, kale, turnip greens and chard are great greens options. Watermelon, strawberries, and blueberries make healthy snacks for chickens when fed in moderation.

A few flock favorites include:

Vegetables: Lettuce, beets, broccoli, carrots, kale, swiss chard, squash, pumpkins and cucumbers
Herbs: Lavender, mint, oregano, parsley, cilantro, thyme and basil
Perennials: Daylilies, hostas, daisies, roses, coneflowers and ferns

If birds are free-ranging, they will find their favorite plants and snack on them. Install a chicken fence or tunnel in the yard to keep them away from your favorite gardens and consider planting a chicken-friendly garden for them to explore. Place a Purina^® Flock Block supplement in the yard to encourage natural pecking.

What not to feed chickens

Avoid treats that may cause an off-flavor in eggs. Garlic and onions are the two most common culprits that may impact egg flavor.

A few other foods should be avoided because they contain toxins that can make birds ill or even be fatal.

Avocado pits and skins are toxic to chickens as they contain a toxin called persin. The flesh of the avocado is fine for chickens.
Undercooked or dried beans can be harmful because they contain a compound known as hemagglutinin, which can inhibit digestion of everything the bird eats.
Rhubarb contains anthraquinones, which can have a laxative effect. Rhubarb damaged by the severe cold can also contain a high concentration of oxalic acid, which can be fatal to chickens.
Moldy, rotten foods and very salty foods can result in excessively wet feces and may be toxic.

Feeding chickens a balanced and complete diet is simple if you follow the 90/10 rule and are mindful of the foods your birds have access to. Start with a complete feed as the baseline and then be careful not to over-treat your birds with goodies. When you do provide treats, choose healthy, wholesome treats that complement a bird’s diet.

Ready to see the difference a complete feed can make in your flock? Sign-up for the Feed Greatness^® Challenge.^*

^*The Feed Greatness^® Challenge is a 60-day feeding trial where you will feed Purina^® feed, monitor your flock's performance and health, take pictures and receive emails with helpful information.

Treats for Baby Chicks Can Be Fun and Nutritious

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Your initial focus when getting baby chickens was probably the basics: selecting a breed, setting up a chick brooder, and what you can feed chickens. When you were researching this last part, did you consider treats for baby chicks? Treats can add nutrition to your baby chicks’ diet. Plus they can be fun for your birds and for you!

Moderation

When thinking about treats for your baby chicks, keep in mind how small they are. Most of their diet should be supplied by a good quality chick starter. Treats should make up no more than 10 percent of their total intake. This is a good rule of thumb for all birds in your flock, no matter their age.

Grit

Chicks who are only eating feed do not necessarily need additional grit. If you are feeding chickens scraps or other treats, they will require this supplement. What is grit, exactly? Grit consists of small stones which the chicken eats and holds temporarily in its gizzard. This muscular organ acts like teeth for the chicken. Food is ground up by the action of the gizzard, with the help of the grit, so that the chicken can digest it. Grit comes in different sizes. For chicks, you should look for “starter grit,” which will be more finely ground. Adult birds who are able to free range pick up grit naturally in the environment but babies, who will most likely be confined, need you to supply it. This is an essential addition if you are feeding treats for baby chicks! Grit can be mixed in with food or offered separately. We have had success both ways; the birds seem to instinctively understand it is something they need and eat it as needed.

Treats for Baby Chicks

So what exactly can you feed those cute babies? Treats for baby chicks really look fairly similar to treats for adult chickens. They can eat a wide variety of foods if prepared properly. Again, think of their small body size. Cut up any food offered into appropriately sized pieces.

Eggs

Hard boiled eggs are a classic treat for baby chicks. Eggs are something chicken keepers often have on hand (in abundance!) and they provide a lot of protein for growing babies. Though hard boiled eggs are fairly easy for chicks to pick apart, you may want to mash it up before serving.

Yogurt or Cottage Cheese

Like eggs, yogurt and cottage cheese provide good protein as a treat for baby chicks. Yogurt also supports good gut health with all its probiotics. Cottage cheese is a favorite of our birds, young and old. They do make a mess but have so much fun diving in for the curds!

Adults and babies alike love cottage cheese!

Worms, Insects and Crickets

You can provide your baby chicks worms in several forms. Meal worms are easily purchased from the store and will be devoured by your young ones. Though it takes more work, you can also collect worms or other small insects from your yard for your babies. This can be a fun way to involve children in the care of your flock. My stepsons like to pick cabbage moth caterpillars off the plants in the garden in feed them to our birds. It’s pest control and treats for baby chickens all in one fun package. Crickets can also be caught or purchased and thrown into your chick brooder. Try this one and be sure to stay and watch the show. Chicks are bound to love the chase as much as the reward when they catch the poor insect!

Fruit and Veggies

Chicks enjoy a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Some favorites among our birds are bananas, tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon, apples, grapes, lettuce, cucumbers, squash and kale. Again, keep in mind the size of your young birds. Softer items might be okay to throw in whole (watermelon or ripe stone fruit) and let the chicks pick off pieces, but tougher items should be cut up into appropriately sized pieces. When in doubt, cut it up.

These babies weren’t sure what to make of this peach when I first gave it to them.

Since I grow kale and its season is so long, lasting all the way through the winter some years, this has been a staple treat for our flock. As a treat for baby chicks, I de-stem and chop it up. For the adults, I sometimes just throw a whole plant into the run and they tear it apart.

Greens from your yard can also serve as veggie treat for baby chicks. Dandelion greens, clover and grass clippings have all been favorites here. Be sure not to feed these to your flock if you use chemicals to treat your lawn.

Spaghetti

Small pieces of spaghetti are an entertaining treat for your little ones. They seem to view them as little worms, rushing in to grab a piece and running off with it dangling out of their mouths. Try this one if you want a good laugh.

Hopefully this list has given you some ideas of treats for baby chicks in your flock. The options are numerous. Just be sure to follow the rules of moderation and adding grit along with the treats, and have fun watching your birds devour their treats!

Daily chickens

We offer natural food for cats, dogs, ferrets, owls, snakes, monitor lizards, hedgehogs, foxes, minks, martens.
Chickens have no bones, only cartilage, plus each chicken has a liver, heart and many other useful nutrients. Inside the chicken there is also a yolk sac rich in vitamins and minerals. Cats on this food look great, have excellent coat texture, and sick animals recover faster.
Chickens are given to animals either raw or cooked.

Chickens in pet diet :
1) Are day old chicks eggs or meat, food or vitamin supplement?
First, it is a healthy balanced meat product that can be given to cats, dogs, ferrets, reptiles.
Second, hatched chicks already have a fully formed skeleton and musculature, only it is not yet developed, so chicken meat is fundamentally different from any muscle meat. Chickens have no bones, only cartilage. Each chick contains a liver, a heart and many other beneficial nutrients that your animal receives in a naturally balanced way.
A day-old chicken and an egg are products that are fundamentally different in composition.
Third, this is not a vitamin supplement that will replace the intake of calcium, fish oil, or bone meal in animals. Courses of vitamins should be given as before during the winter, shedding and in cases of prescription by a doctor.

2) Can such food cause allergies and stress on the liver if there is an unlimited amount of chicken?
Chickens are advised to be fed almost in the same amount as meat, but not everyone knows that every chicken has a yolk in the stomach, from which the chick receives nutrients at the initial stage of development in the first days of life. Therefore, the answer to this question is simple - just like you give quail eggs as a treat only a couple of times a week, you leave the yolk in a chicken in just 2 feedings per week.
How much chick to consume depends on the way you choose to feed your pet.

3) How do I feed the chicks and do I need to remove the fluff?
The answer to this question depends on which animal will feast on chicks.
Juvenile fluff does not need to be removed from ferret food, as the ferret's digestive system is adapted to the consumption of chicks, mice, etc. and has a very fast metabolism. The body of a ferret rapidly digests food, so the fluff fibers simply do not have time to linger and come out unchanged.
The only thing worth doing is pouring water on the chick so that the fluff does not stick to the mouth and throat while eating and does not cause a natural regurgitation reflex.

As for other animals, for example, for cats and dogs, it is worth pouring water over the chick and the fluff is easily washed off, because when feeding cats with mice and chicks, it is periodically worth giving special malt pastes to remove wool.
4) Is it possible to infect a pet with salmonellosis from feeding chicks?
If chicks are bought from a state-owned poultry farm, sanitary control monitors the quality of future products and checks are made even before laying the hatching egg. First laying hens are examined, then hatching eggs are selected and calibrated. All dirty eggs are discarded, because at incubation temperatures and humidity, fecal matter can infect the embryo, causing infections and, as a result, the death of the chick during hatching. Then the bookmark is regularly checked for bacteriological parameters of washings from the surface of the egg shell and transillumination with an ovoscope. Day old chicks intended for pet food are not subject to immunization and are not injected with any drugs. Diurnal chicks bought from a trusted place do not pose any threat to your pet's health.

Storage of chickens:
Freeze the chickens in individual bags and feed them in the usual way as you would with any meat. Don't forget to defrost your chicken naturally to retain all the nutrients. Do not put chicken in the microwave to defrost! the yolk in the chick's stomach will explode before the chick melts.

Bon appetit to your pets!

Feeding chicks and young

Soon after the chicks are dry and running, they need to be fed. This is usually done the next day after the withdrawal.

Chickens can be prepared with simple nutritious food, or, as zootechnicians say, rations.

This diet for chickens from the first to the tenth day of age will be well-steamed millet porridge mixed with finely chopped hard-boiled chicken egg.

Place this food in front of the chicks on a sheet of paper or clean boards. After feeding, which lasts fifteen to twenty minutes, we will collect the leftovers. They will go for the future of an adult bird.

At first, our pets should be fed five or six times a day, watered with a drinking hole, which should always be kept in front of the chickens filled with fresh water or milk.

From the second or third day, we will start diversifying the food. Let's add to the porridge a little cottage cheese or boiled fish chopped with bones, frog caviar or a favorite bird treat - earthworms. Separately, in the troughs, we will put mineral feed: coarse sand and crushed birch coal.

Both fish and worms and frog eggs belong to the animal world, which is why zootechnicians called these foods animal foods. And those that the earth produces and grows: grains, vegetables and herbs are called plant foods.

Vegetable foods are also divided into cereals, such as grains of various breads, flour, bran, and green foods, such as clover, various grasses, hay. Vegetables: potatoes and carrots are called root crops.

Green foods such as clover, alfalfa, green onions, carrots or young nettles are fed to chicks from the fourth or fifth day of life.

But how to prepare all these dishes?

Finding young nettles or green onions is not difficult. We grind them with a sharp knife and add two or three handfuls to a mash of millet porridge with bran or flour. Greens in this case should be no more than a fifth of the crumbly mash.

When fresh herbs are not available, dried clover, alfalfa or nettles can be used. They should be crushed in a bag, and the dust should be sifted through a sieve. Ready green "flour" is added to the feed at 3-4 grams per chicken.

It is even easier to tie bunches of clover or alfalfa stalks, sprinkle them with water in the evening, and tie them against the wall in the hen house in the morning. Pecking at the green stalks, the chickens jump high above the floor and quickly drag their prey away.

Hanging carrots is not worth it, the chickens will not be able to cope with it anyway. It is rubbed through an iron grater and added to the feed at 5-10 grams for each chicken from ten to sixty days of age.

When feeding green fodder, it is sufficient to give the chicks one of the types, such as young nettles, carrots or dried clover.

“Is all this cooking necessary? the reader may ask. “Isn’t it easier to feed your chickens with one grain?”

Let's try to make such an experiment. Remove greens from your diet.

Everything will go smoothly at first. But soon we will notice how the beaks and paws of our chicks will begin to turn pale and turn from yellow to white. Their growth will also stop.

Then things will get even worse: the eyes will begin to water, go out of their sockets, the feathers will ruffle; there will be such freaks that it will be scary to look at your pets.

The doctor will say without hesitation that our chickens have severe beriberi.

The word is not Russian. In Latin, vita means life, therefore, vitamins are called such substances, without which most animals cannot live and get sick.

These substances are found in some plant foods and not in others.

For example, growth vitamin A can be found in red carrots, yellow corn, clover, grasses, alfalfa, but not at all in white corn.

Growing chickens need vitamin D for normal bone development. It is found, for example, in fish oil.

If chicks are exposed to direct sunlight, that is, rays not transmitted through window glass, such exposure is sufficient for normal development of the skeleton. If only diffused light penetrates into the room where the chickens are, then from the age of ten they should be given 0.2 grams of fish oil. It is mixed with flour in the form of a crumbly mixer.

When the chicks have grown up, from about the third or fourth week, it is necessary to diversify their food. Now it is useful to add millet, small oats, wheat waste, barley, etc.