Feeding cheese

[Thechickentrainer1999]

What age can I start feeding my baby chicks cheese? My older hens go absolute crazy over it and that's the main food I trained them with when they were young. When I say feed them cheese, I'm talking about only 1 shreded piece at a time broken into 10s per bird. That together is only about 1 inch long of a very very thin piece. I want to start training these too.

 

[Pyxis]

Dairy in general isn't really a good thing for birds, since in nature they'd really never run into it, so they aren't really equipped to digest it - in fact, studies have shown they can't digest lactose. Some cheeses and yogurts have a very small amount of lactose in them, so they can be okay to feed very occasionally as treats, but I personally avoid it.

Instead, you could try scrambled egg or egg yolk. It's what I've always used to feed my chicks to get them friendly and they go bonkers for it, and it can be fed from any age. Live mealworms are also a good choice, though they should only be fed to birds that have access to grit to help them digest them.

 

[aart]

Cheese can have huge amounts of salt/sodium, which is not good for the birds.

 

[chickens really]

Plus birds really don't digest dairy well..

 

[TooCheep]

I agree with everything above. Try scrambled or hard-boiled egg instead. Their digestive systems are designed to handle it. It is good for them and they love it.

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

I agree with everything above. Try scrambled or hard-boiled egg instead. Their digestive systems are designed to handle it. It is good for them and they love it.

So they can't get sick from eating another hens egg?

 

[aart]

So they can't get sick from eating another hens egg?

No. Why would you think that?

 

[Sungrove Farmstead]

So they can't get sick from eating another hens egg?

Chickens (at least mine) are quick to jump on eating a smashed egg, I think it's their favorite lol! I try not to let them get the raw eggs but occasionally will scramble up a few eggs with oatmeal in it and they go nuts over it!

 

[TooCheep]

So they can't get sick from eating another hens egg?

Assuming the egg is in good condition, no problem at all. In human terms, the yolk is the equivalent of milk. It has all of the proper nutrients that baby chicks need and works for the adults as well. The whites are heavy in proteins to help protect the yolk and developing chick, which is good for them to eat too.

Adult chickens sometimes break and eat raw eggs naturally and it doesn't harm them. Of course, this is considered bad behavior as it destroys eggs that we want.

 

[Thechickentrainer1999]

No. Why would you think that?

Just wondering.