2/16/2023 0 Comments Black baby chicksMy rule of thumb is no more than 1 mealworm per week of chick age. How Many Mealworms Should You Feed Your Baby Chick? They have grown enough that their primary feathers are now actually feathers instead of fuzz (like the babies below).They have had access to chick grit for at least 1 week.In the wild, a hen would be hunting up bugs and worms to give her babies as soon as they were able to leave the nest.įor my flock, there are only two things I look at to know if my chicks are ready for treats: I haven’t read anything in the scientific literature that actually defines a minimum age. For me, the age thing is more about caution. You could feed your baby chicks mealworms a couple of days after they are born and they might be fine. There isn’t really a scientific answer to this one. ![]() How Do You Know When Baby Chicks Are Old Enough to Eat Mealworms? That way, your baby chicks will have had time to build up the grit they need in their gizzard to digest the worm when offered. It is better, instead, to be sure your chicks are offered chick grit (I get mine from ), and then wait at least a week or two before offering this yummy treat option. C hicks that are very young may have trouble breaking that down and fully digesting the mealworm. The mealworm naturally has a hard exoskeleton. They need time to naturally accumulate grit. These chicks, which are raised by humans, don’t have natural access to grit. Most chicks are purchased from a farm store or ordered from a hatchery. This process is most like how a mortar and pestle works to grind down food.ĭigested food particles then pass from the gizzard to the small intestine, then to the large intestine and finally is passed through the cloaca.īut why does this matter? Baby Chick Digestion ![]() ![]() These pieces of indigestible matter serve a very important purpose, they help to grind up the food in the gizzard.Īs the strong muscles of the gizzard contract, food is moved around with the rock particles. For free-roaming chickens, and chicks raised outside, small particles of rock accumulate in the gizzard.
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