Grogel - pros and cons?

[Peaguy]

After reading for almost two years now

... I decided "Okay We ain't gonna get eggs without the chickens unless we buy them at the store Bleeeecccchhhhh! I am CRAVING

some fresh bright yellow eggs! So here we go off this dangerous cliff edge hoping we can fly!

Chicks are ordered and due here about mid-June

THEN comes the (gentle selling nudge)

from Ideal asking "did you forget to order your Grogel?" So my question is... Worth it or not? ( expense is not an issue, I mean it's cheap!) but is it better to start with the Grogel or is there alternative ways to go about getting them started off right? I suspect we are going to have enough other panick issues during the rebuilding process of a 20 plus year old coop that is already on the property

I would prefer to lessen my evils as much as possible and have the chicks get the best start I can give them so that we can concentrate on getting their daily lives managed to the best of our ability. You would think that by this time and all the reading and keeping up with everyone's chicken experiences and successes I would be able to rattle this answer off to myself in my sleep but for some reason this email asking about it throw my mind into a tail spin and has me completely flummoxed!

Your experiences, advice, recommendations, would be GREATLY appreciated. So "to Grogel or not to Grogel" that is the question

 

[Chicken Cluck]

Um try this...YourLinkGoesHere http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00044/id33.htm

 

[samapp]

I ordered grogel for my chicks, they would not even eat it. So, for me , it was a waste of a few dollars, thats it.

 

[happyhen]

I guess I was lucky with the chicks I ordered from Mt Healthy since all (including the packing peanut) thrived on just fresh water and good feed. Never even thought about grogel.

 

[BearSwampChick]

Every one of my 16 chicks from Mt. Healthy were healthy and thriving right from the beginning and still are and I didn't use gro-gel. I think you'll be okay without it.

 

[ebonykawai]

My home hatched chicks didn't eat it, either. They weren't attracted to it in the least.

 

[Peaguy]

Thanks CC, Sam, and Happy!!!!!! During all the time we have been considering doing this and all the research and trying to keep the drool off the multitudes of hatchery catalogs... I convinced myself all along the way that Grogel was a must have. Then came ordering day and *poof* I guess all the anxiety of how foolish this endeavor/adventure really was as there is sooooo much work to do on the coop and such.... I never even considered Grogel again, never even a passing thought until the evil sales pitch email arrived. I think I am going to forego the gel and just trust luck to a good quality starter feed and plenty of water and a red infrared heat lamp that my roommate happened to catch on clearance at Wally World the very same day for only $1.00! Now the real panick begins! Where we gonna keep 25 chicks on 80 acres with no coop ready, one catand 4 puppies in the house and 17 other dogs running helter skelter around the place anyone want to come pick up a puppy or three? edited to make the HTML code usage correct!

 

[Peaguy]

thanks Lisa And Bear Swamp Also!

 

[BearSwampChick]

You're welcome and also welcome to the forum!

Susan

 

[kees]

Is Gro-gel some kind of electrolyte mix? I'm thinking that if chickens are fine in nature without it, it's just another way to add unneeded chemicals to your chickens.