Feeding Chicks & Keets
I received an email on Saturday from one of my regular readers Joanna, enquiring about what food can be given to young chicks as one of her Orpington hens had turned up with a chick.
All the books I have recommend giving chick crumbs for the first ten to 14 days and this is what I feed my guinea fowl chicks along with some chopped up lettuce. I give my keets the lettuce from about one week of age when I have a few leaves spare.
If you don’t have chick starter feed, you can feed them for a day or two on;
- instant oatmeal,
- flaked infant cereal,
- or other whole-grain cereals.
You can put whole grains (rice, wheat, barley, old-fashioned oats) into the blender and blend them slightly. Do not blend completely to a powder, the feed should have some “grits” in it.
Adding ground up hard boiled eggs, milk or yoghurt to chick crumbs or crushed up feed is also recommended.
Lettuce and greens chopped up small can also be given to chicks.
Recipes For Homemade Chick Crumbs
Recipe one.
Grind up the following ingredients;
canary seed 3parts,
millet seed 2parts,
groats 2parts,
hempseed 1part,
finely cracked peas 1part.
This recipe is taken from Home Poultry Keeping By Dr Geoffrey Eley.
Recipe 2. Chick Mash.Wheat, maize & oats meal - 13kg.
Fish or meat meal - 5kg.
Alfalfa meal - 5kg.
Ground seashells - 0.9kg.
Cod liver oil - 0.5kg.
Salt - 0.5kg.
This recipe says that if you give them plenty of wholemilk you can forget all but a little of the cod liver oil, the alfalfa meal and half if not all of the fish/meat meal.
This recipe is taken from The Complete Book Of Self Sufficiency By John Seymour.
I have never tried these recipes so I am not able to say whether chicks like this alternative.
If there are any ingredients that I have omitted to list that can be fed to chicks or are a favourite with your chicks, then please leave a comment.
Chicks Food Keets
Hi Sara
We always use chopped hard boiled egg as a standby, until we can get some proper chick crumbs.
This happens when an unexpected chick turns up!
Cyn
Comment by Cynthia — June 29, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Hi Cynthia,
Thanks for this useful information. I’ve never had a chick or keet just turn up except when I came home from work and found an extra chick in the brooder! Click on this link to read all about it. http://www.farmingfriends.com/theres-an-impostor-in-the-brooder/
Thanks for visiting.
Sara @ farmingfriends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — June 30, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
This is great info for me! I’m hoping to start up my fowl area within the year! My husband is completely against it, as we already have too much on our plates each day, including full-time jobs away from home! However, I know I’ll win. I like that you share this information, since it’s like hearing from a friend!
Comment by BoggyWoggy — June 30, 2007 @ 10:34 pm
Hi BoggyWoggy,
I am so pleased that you find this information useful and I hope that one day soon you will have the guinea fowl you desire.
I think the best thing about blogging are the comments that I receive and the friendships that are made this way.
It’s a shame we can’t send guinea fowl eggs overseas - it would be great to do an overseas guinea fowl project.
Thanks for your regular visits and comments.
Sara @ farmingfriends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — June 30, 2007 @ 10:42 pm