Help! What to feed them?

[teachao]

I picked up my baby chickens at the postoffice about 4:15 Started with 7 bantam chicks 1 dead when I opened box 1 more just died the others i have under a light on the straw they were shipped with they have drank some the water i put in there. 2 had stuff on their butts which i cleaned. what do i feed them i do not have any chick feed until in the morning. I will never order live chicks like this. it is too upsetting but after lossing all my eggs i didn,t know what to do. Randy who is a member here is sending me some more eggs to try again to get a hatch before school ends but in the meantime what can i feed these tonight ?

 

[annanicole18]

i have read a lot of people on here say cooked egg yolk cumbled up and i think prepared oatmeal. hope someone with more knowledge than me can help you out

 

[annek]

You can feed them cooked egg yolk. I cook until hard boiled and then chop it up fine for chicks. Don't give anything else (chick crumbles are okay) without grit. Be sure to put marbles or rocks in the water so they can not drown in it or get wet. Keep an eye on them and be sure they are warm enough. If they are huddling under the light, they need it warmer. They will need about 90-95 degrees for the first week then drop 5 degrees per week until fully feathered about 5-6 weeks. I would put down paper towel for the first few days until they know that straw or pine shavings are not food. Just change it once or twice a day. Good luck.

 

[NotTheMomma]

Perhaps corn meal just to tonight?

 

[enola]

NO CORN MEAL. I did that one time, the chicks got a horrible case of dirrhea and nearly died of dehydration from the diarrhea.

Boil some eggs, feed them the crumbled up yolks. That is all they will need until you can get some chick starter tomorrow morning.

 

[teachao]

yea!!!!!!!!!!!! I boiled an egg (only had one) Mashed up egg yolk and gave it to them they ate it and now arechirping. Moved them to old aquriuam with dry paper towels. they have water and straw to get on Anything else I should do. thanks anne

 

[loverOFchickens]

If one gets worse put sugar in water they can digest it quickly.
You can also feed raw egg yolk.

 

[annek]

Hopefully they will be okay. Just make sure to get their crumbles first thing in the morning. You can sprinkle some on the paper towel around their dish too, they like to scratch. I kept a washcloth or pillow case under the light to give the babies a place to gather that they seemed to enjoy for the first week or so. The pillow case is easier to get the gunk off and the chips don't stick as easy.

If they are gently cheeping, they are happy. If they are loud, there is something wrong. Keep them warm and free from drafts and give them a place to escape in the box if they are too hot. Be very careful with water too, if they get wet they might get cold and die, be sure to put the rocks or marbles in to prevent drowning. The chicks even fall asleep while drinking and can drown so the rocks are important.

Other than that you should be all set for the evening. Glad they are eating for you. Be sure to give grit to them if you feed anything else other than the egg or crumbles. I put a box of sand in with my older chicks and put their treats like bananna or strawberries in the sand to make sure they get grit. I had one die a few weeks ago and I think it ate some wood chips when I put treats in and they stuck to the chips, now I make sure I coat in sand so that it can't stick.

Thats about the extent of my knowledge!

Anne

 

[R@ndy]

teachao

Your eggs will be heading your way, care of UPS in the morning and being over-nighted

My company is going to pick up the shipping charge

 

[R@ndy]

And after your chicks are a week old try giving them meal worms, lots of protein and they go nuts over them