So your little fluffy butts are on the way or cheeping away in the brooder already, and you’re wondering what is the best thing to feed baby chicks.
Mash and crumbles are two versions of chick starter, one finely crushed and the other comprising larger particles of essentially coarsely broken up pellets.
Perhaps the main points of difference are that mash involves more wastage due to the fine powder consistency, whereas crumble contains additives called binders that some naturally-oriented chicken keepers prefer to avoid.
This article will compare mash and crumbles and answer related questions about feeding baby chicks, including protein requirements, whether they can eat layer pellets and scratch grains, and when hey need grit and what kind.
Is Mash Or Crumbles Better For Baby Chicks?
While some some research has found bodyweights and feed conversion rates in broilers are better when chicks are fed pellets/crumbles versus mash, the choice for backyard chicken keepers is often not cut and dried.
Nutritionally fairly identical, mash and crumbles each have benefits and downsides as baby chick feed.
The choice may come down to personal preference and priorities.
You may decide one is more practical than the other in your individual circ*mstances.
Advantages of mash for baby chicks include:
- Small particle size i.e. easier for baby chicks to eat
- No binders i.e. fewer additives
- Depending on your location, can be more readily available
- May be more appealing to chicks as it more closely resembles grains and you can often see the different ingredients i.e. provides more enrichment for baby chicks in the brooder
Drawbacks of mash for baby chicks include:
- Wastage due to “fines” that may get left as dust in the feeder or on the ground
- Chicks may eat their favorite ingredients and leave the rest, skewing their diet
- Chicks may eat the particles and leave the powder, missing out on nutrients
- Mess from chicks digging through the feed for the “good bits” and scratching out the rest
- Cost associated with the wastage
- More cleaning and brooder/coop upkeep associated with the mess
Advantages of crumbles for baby chicks include:
- Less wastage as fewer fines
- hom*ogenous appearance — less cherry picking and more uniform, balanced nutrition
- Possibly less dusty, dust being an irritant to the chicken respiratory system
Drawbacks of crumbles as chick feed include:
- Crumble is mash that’s been pressed into pellets and then roughly broken up, so may contain binders
- May be less appealing as looks less like actual food/real grains
- Can be more expensive than mash
- Quicker to eat than mash, meaning chicks may get bored faster and more likely to engage in problem behaviours like bullying and feather pecking
Do Baby Chicks Need Medicated Chick Starter?
Whichever feed you choose to give your baby chicks, another key decision is whether it’s medicated or medication-free.
Medicated chick starter contains Amprolium, which is not an antibiotic but a “coccidiostat” drug that impairs the growth of the protozoan that causes the disease coccidiosis.
Certified organic chick starters are unmedicated.
An alternative to feeding medicated chick starter is to build baby chicks’ immunity to local pathogens by:
- Putting a clod of soil and grass in the brooder
- Giving baby chicks time outside on the ground ASAP after hatch
- Raising chicks under broody hens that will ensure the youngsters are exposed to the environment
It’s also important not to keep the brooder box “too clean” as baby chicks need a certain level of exposure to pathogens, including those in droppings, in order to build natural resistance.
Chicks that suddenly go from spotlessly clean and sanitized brooders to outdoor coops at six or eight weeks of age may not fare as well as baby chicks that have been gradually acclimated to the local soil and other pathogens early in life.
This effect can be magnified if the transition from brooder to “real world” coincides with the transition off medicated chick starter, meaning chicks lose protection at the same time their immune systems are likely to encounter unfamiliar challenges.
What Percent Protein Do Baby Chicks Need?
As a rule of thumb, chicks need maximum protein at hatch and during their early weeks of rapid growth and development, with protein requirements gradually decreasing as they approach maturity.
How much protein your baby chicks need will depend on whether they are:
- Meat birds (broilers)
- An egg laying breed
- Dual-purpose birds raised for both meat and eggs
According to Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities, egg laying breeds such as Leghorns require:
- 20 to 22 per cent protein from hatch to six weeks of age
- 16-18% protein from 6-14 weeks old (Grower stage)
- 14-16% protein from 14-20 weeks old (Developer stage)
- 15-19% protein once over 20 weeks of age, for layers
- 14-18% protein for mature breeders of the laying breeds
Meat birds, including dual-purpose breeds require slightly more protein than laying breeds, to support a larger body mass.
Many heritage or rare breeds favored by backyard chicken keepers, particularly those in pursuit of colored eggs, are dual-purpose breeds e.g. Marans.
Easter eggers and olive eggers are invariably crosses between these dark layers (or possibly Welsummers) and a blue egg laying-breed like Cream Legbars or Ameraucanas.
These birds can benefit from additional protein in their diets.
The heavier the bird, the more protein they usually need.
Seasons also affect how much chickens eat.
In winter, when it’s cold, chickens eat more to generate more body heat.
In the cold months a hen may eat up to 340 calories of metabolizable energy per day.
In summer, when it’s warm, chickens consumer less, with hens eating more in the vicinity of 260 calories of energy per day.
Since chickens tend to eat to meet their energy requirements (as opposed to their protein requirements), higher protein feeds need to be fed in summer to ensure the birds’ consume enough of this vital nutrient, even though they’re eating less overall.
When To Switch Chicks From Starter To Grower Feed
Exactly when to switch chicks from chick starter to grower rations will depend on the particular food you’re using and how it’s formulated.
As a first port of call, check the feeding instructions on the back of the bag, the company’s website or contact their customer service for clarification.
Generally, starter feed is fed from hatch to about six weeks of age.
Grower feed then fills the gap between chick starter and adult layer feed which kicks in around point of lay.
The most important differences between feeds for different age groups are protein and calcium levels, with growing chicks needing more protein and less calcium than adult laying hens.
Some companies make feeds with a broad nutritional profile, designed to cater for chicks from day old to point of lay.
Can Baby Chicks Eat Layer Feed?
The odd mouthful won’t hurt, but chicks shouldn’t be raised on layer pellets.
Layer rations, as the name suggests, are specifically formulated to meet the needs of laying hens which are significantly different to the needs of growing chicks.
Layer feeds contain too much calcium, and too little protein for chicks.
Overconsumption of calcium by chicks can cause problems including:
- Kidney damage
- Improper bone formation
Insufficient protein for baby chicks may result in issues like:
- Impaired growth and development
- Feather pulling in an attempt to meet protein needs
Far better for broody hens or the adults in a mixed-age flock to temporarily eat chick starter or grower ration (as long as it’s non-medicated) than for baby chicks to eat layer pellets.
See also: Can Laying Hens Eat Chick Starter?
Just make sure you always provide an optional calcium source for the layers to make up for the lower calcium in chick starter and grower feed.
When Can Baby Chicks Eat Scratch?
The standard advice is not to feed scratch grains to baby chicks, but to wait until they’re older.
This may represent an extension of the general grain versus pellets debate.
On one side are those who believe chickens should eat grains as part of a more natural diet.
On the other are those who see grains as “junk food” and prefer to feed strictly pellets.
The rationale for the rule against feeding baby chicks scratch grains is typically two-fold:
- Baby chicks “can’t digest” grains
- They’ll fill up on grains and not eat their regular mash or crumbles, thereby missing out on a balanced diet
Certainly it’s important that chicks receive proper nutrition to support optimal growth and development.
Some chick starters do contain finely ground pieces of recognizable grains, and if you plan to feed your birds grains as part of their adult diet, it mightn’t be a bad idea to get them used to it early.
Grains are digested in the gizzards, and it does take time for this muscular organ to adapt to grains when the body’s only ever encountered highly processed foods requiring very little grinding.
So, if you choose to offer some grains to your baby chicks:
- Introduce grains slowly and in small amounts
- Offer scratch late in the day to ensure the chicks have already consumed the majority of their food and aren’t going to eat scratch at the expense of their main diet
- Make sure you provide digestive grit
What is digestive grit?
Is it the same as oyster shell? No!
Let’s take a closer look at this essential component of the poultry diet.
Do Baby Chicks Need Grit?
As soon as chicks eat anything other than chick starter, they require digestive grit.
Digestive grit consists of tiny rocks and pebbles eaten by the chicken.
Those particles lodge in the part of the gut called the gizzards, allowing the bird to grind up its food.
Note that digestive grit is different to shell grit or oyster shells.
While digestive grit (often just called grit) is insoluble, shell grit/oyster shell dissolves in the gut and is absorbed.
In this way, oyster shell/shell grit provides a source of calcium for laying hens that use the mineral to make strong eggshells.
Chicks don’t need shell grit (or any other calcium supplement e.g. limestone) until they approach point of lay.
You’ll notice that chicks will instinctively pass over calcium that’s offered free-choice, instinctively knowing they’re not yet old enough for their bodies to need it.
When it comes to digestive grit, free ranging chickens may pick up enough of their own when foraging, but flocks kept on ground that doesn’t have many small stones or pebbles or flocks contained within enclosed runs will need grit provided.
Additional digestive grit is never a bad idea as old time poultrymen will tell you it serves multiple purposes including:
- Healthy digestion and proper gizzard function
- Feed efficiency or feed conversion rates (how much of consumed food is actually absorbed and converted to body mass)
- Prevention of intestinal parasite infestations (worms)
If digestive grit is unavailable to purchase where you live, fine gravel can substitute.
🐓 See all articles on Raising Chicks
Conclusion
Mash or crumbles?
It’s a judgment call.
Nutritionally, there’s little difference between mash and crumbles for baby chicks.
Deciding factors are usually the wastage associated with mash, the presence of binders in crumbles, a preference for recognizable grains in mash, greater enrichment provided by eating mash.
Like a lot of things to do with chicken keeping, it may come down to trial and error —there’s no harm in picking one and seeing how it works for your flock before making a final choice.
References
Amprolium for Chickens and Ducks, Poultry DVM, Downloaded May 2023
Jacob, Jacquie, Feeding Chickens for Egg Production in Small and Backyard Flocks, University of Kentucky Poultry Extension, Downloaded May 2023
Jafarnejad S, Farkhoy M, Sadegh M, Bahonar AR. Effect of crumble-pellet and mash diets with different levels of dietary protein and energy on the performance of broilers at the end of the third week. Vet Med Int, 2011
