# Chickens!



## Guest (Jun 12, 2009)

Hi! I'm new to having these birds as pets- I've been given one as a gift that is approx. 3-4 weeks old. It's in a spacious box lined with newspaper and hay, and has access to clean water and bread (buying seeds now). 
I know i should also prepare a cage for it, and i've got one im disinfecting. What I would like to know is if there are any special needs that chickens have, i.e special food, access to grass, grit, etc.

Thanx!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Definitely get proper chicken food (scratch grain, mash, crumbles) and don't feed the bread. Bread is OK once in a great while as a "treat", but as food it is junk and not good for the chicken. What kind of cage do you have? A chicken would not do well in a typical cage. 

We do have members with great chicken knowledge here so please get back to us.

Please do register here .. it will make things easier for you and for us ..

Terry


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

http://www.backyardchickens.com/


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## Guest (Jun 13, 2009)

*update*

Thanks Charis for the website- i found it very useful. I have moved the chick into a big cage, about the length of a rabbit hutch but twice as wide. It is made completely of wire except for the bottom, which is metal. It is about one metre high.
I have parrot seed mix, which i have been giving it (it seems to like it) and i was only feeding it bread because i had to pick it up from somebody and I thought that you could feed chickens "anything". 
(wel, it turns out i was wrong, but then again- this is my first chicken)
Anyway, i am ChickenGal401, but my computer is not letting me log on, for some reason. I am thinking this is some kind of cookie, but does anybody else have this kind of problem? Perhaps i have a slow HTML connection...
This bird likes to eat a lot, and also has VERY large feet. It feels thin, and it makes a lot of noise. Is this normal (not the thin part)?

All advice Appreciated!


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## hugh (Apr 27, 2009)

Make sure the wire diameter is fairly small because ***** can reach in and pull the bird to the edge and eat it. If its chainlink minks, weasels, and small possiums can squeze through. I have all of my pens wrapped in 1/2 inch square wire mesh. Best of luck.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Glad to hear your chick is doing well. Yes, they do make a lot of noise, so that's normal. You definitely want to be feeding her "chick crumbles" right now, with some "scratch grain" mixed in. When she is older you can switch to "lay crumbles". These provide all the nutrients for them, especially when they're young. Parrot seed is good for a treat but not for them to eat regularly, which seems silly as it's so darn expensive lol. But get her on a good crumble mix and that will fatten her up some. I'm glad things are going well.


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