I like to use a cereal or shoe box cut down and add chick starter, Alfalfa leaves, and a sprinkling of parakeet grit, it entertains them for hours!
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You're welcome! Exposing them to bacteria is actually the point. By making them eat the bacteria and other potentially harmful germs in the grass, they build their immunity up. If they do not have this option, then they have a higher risk of being sick when they get integrated outside. I take my chicks outside for the first time when they are only a few days old, and let them do what they want for about a minute, and then take them back inside. I do this every day if I can, and make them stay outside for longer periods of time. It helps a lot.Thanks for your response! Will grass be ok for them at this age? We don’t have pesticides or anything in our grass but I just don’t want to expose them to anything harmful.
Same here, weather permitting. I tried to sneak a 4-day-old chick outside this afternoon as the sun was out, but a gust of wind hit us...so much for that. 50F is quite cold to me even, much less the little bugger curled up in my hoodie. But the sun was so warm, darn it!You're welcome! Exposing them to bacteria is actually the point. By making them eat the bacteria and other potentially harmful germs in the grass, they build their immunity up. If they do not have this option, then they have a higher risk of being sick when they get integrated outside. I take my chicks outside for the first time when they are only a few days old, and let them do what they want for about a minute, and then take them back inside. I do this every day if I can, and make them stay outside for longer periods of time. It helps a lot.
as others have said, exposure to a clump of your garden soil, with the plants and microbiota growing in and on it will prime their immune systems for the challenges they'll face when they go out (things like coccidia, which are endemic and unavoidable). Pop it in the brooder and it'll also supply some fresh nutrients, grit (unless your soil's just clay) and satisfy their instincts to dig, scratch, and explore their environment. Like toddlers, they do a fair bit of this by taste.Thanks for your response! Will grass be ok for them at this age? We don’t have pesticides or anything in our grass but I just don’t want to expose them to anything harmful.