AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Glad to hear they're on the improve.
Photos are always welcome.

Is it advisable to mix hard boiled eggs with chick starter from birth or wait until they are a couple of days old?

You should only give egg twice a week it is very high in protein and you can over load your chicks and do them harm

I have been giving it 3 times a week and they seem very healthy do you think that will be ok long term?

My grandmother use to feed all her chicks hard boiled eggs everyday as well as warm rolled oats & she said they use to thrive & grow up big and healthy with hardly ever getting sick or just dropping dead, like some people seem to experience these days.

I say go for it.

I feed my chicks boiled egg three times a week along with lots of veggies and medicated chick crumble and they're thriving.

Cheers
Chica-Dee

Whats the best way to get new born chicks to start feeding I think I have 3 of the 6 that are not eating and I am concerned

For the first few days chickens rest up and live off their reserves. If you sprinkle some feed on newspaper the chickens will instinctively begin to feed when they are ready. So all you need to do is keep them warm and make food and water available.

Sorry about your chickie loss Kellie, it is very upsetting to see littlies die especially when you are not sure why. I would be questioning the breeder as to why you recieved birds with respiratory infections. Introducing new birds is always a risk as often illness's are not obvious, still, you deserve some answers for this as while chicks do cheep, they are not cheap! I am at best a backyard hack however I would never, ever sell a sick chicken to a buyer. Unfortunately there is such a small margin for profit on poultry that unscrupulous breeders often sell sick, diseased and deformed birds rather than cut a loss. I may be wrong about your guy but I have met a lot of shifty people in the chook business before. I hope you have had a reply from him buy now.
I hatch a small amount of chicks each week and have excellent success with their health by keeping it very simple and basic. I use large plastic tubs as broodies with a fine mesh lid. I find these easy to handle, clean and best of all they are cheap. For heat I use a ceramic reptile light which is directed in a manner that the whole tub is not heated, just where the lamp is aimed. I like having warm and cool spots for the kiddies to regulate their own temp and I suppose it mimics the situations they would be faced with had they been raised by a hen. Having different heat also helps me identify those not thriving as they tend to stay closer to the heat source for longer. For food I only use commercial chick crumbs until about 6 weeks at which point they move onto grower feed. I certainly would have no issue with introducing other food, I just find they thrive on the crumbs so am happy to leave it at that.
Reoreds, are you raising them or a hen? Littlies will start on their own when they are ready however after mine have hatched, fluffed up and are fully mobile I like to show them the food and water by just tapping the item with my finger. A newly hatched chick will see your finger as mumma and follow it for a feed. You can note the body language of your chicks to see if they are unwell, do they stand still looking all bunched up with their heads and wings down a little? A sick chick will often cheep a lot more than others (unless it is very close to death of course). Watching them is often the best indicator of their health.
Good luck!

Ok thanks doggo I will keep a watch on them

Is it ok for a second hen to help mothering some chicks? I noticed out mother hen has a shadow that seem to want to help with the chick care but I am not sure if that is safe for the chicks although she has not tried to hurt them