Treat advise

[Chm1981]

I think I may have overfed dried mealworms to my 1 month old ladies. They are ok, I was using a 1/8 cup and tossing onto bedding so they can forage. There is so much conflicting info surrounding treats I am looking for clarity. They have starter/grower feed in there at all times, how often can you feed extras like mealworms, fruits/veggies, grains and scrambled eggs? Is this a once a week type deal and you rotate treats or can they begin to have something a few times a week in small amounts?

Also when treat feeding once they are outside in run/coop do you just toss ok ground or put in dish?

 

[nuthatched]

As long as it's only about 10% of their diet, anything* is fine.
Scatter it so they have to work.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I am not aware of any scientifically tested rules for treats. If there were, each specific treat would have to be individually tested. An impossible task.

So we use that 10% rule where at least 90% needs to be their regular well-balanced feed and no more than 10% is a treat. How do you measure 10%? With all of the different treats, I have no idea. So we use another rule of thumb. If they can clean it up in 10 to 20 minutes it is OK. Anything longer than that and it is too much.

Does this 10% apply to all treats or is it just one specific individual treat? If 90% is to be their regular food then the 10% means all of the treats they get that day.

Some people feed their chickens the same treats every day and their chickens are OK. My personal preference is to vary it, feed small amounts of different treats, whether several in one day or a different treat every day for a while to balance it out. Some treats like mealworms are high in proteins and fats. Some treats like certain grains may have different amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fiber.

If your chickens forage for a significant portion of their food you have given up the ability to micromanage this anyway but still limit the individual treats.

Most treats that I feed I just toss on the ground but a few go in a bowl. It depends on the treat. The chickens really don't care but some things might be easier to eat out of a bowl. Yogurt for example.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think it's important to remember that if you are feeding your chicks anything other than their commercial chick starter, you should also be providing chick grit to help them digest it, either in a bowl or scattered on the floor of their brooder.