By Drs. Julie Ashley and Blayne Mozisek
What your babies eat shapes their lifelong health. The first 8 weeks are the fastest growth period of their lives, making proper nutrition critically important. Balanced starter diets support strong immunity, steady growth, and a thriving flock.
● Crumbled starter feed is the gold standard for chicks, poults, goslings and ducklings.
● Small, uniform particles ensure every bite is nutritionally complete.
● Mash is often too fine, leading to sorting and waste.
● Pellets are too large for young birds and reduce feed intake.
Crumbles promote consistent crop fill, even growth, and less feed waste.
● Always use a commercial starter diet formulated for the species:
○ Chicks: Chick starter (18-20% protein).
○ Ducklings, Goslings: Waterfowl starter — never chick starter (chick formulas lack the right nutrient profile for ducklings).
○ Turkeys/gamebirds: Gamebird or turkey starter with at least 28% protein.
● Commercial starter feeds are designed by veterinary nutritionists to be:
○ Complete → contains every nutrient the species needs.
○ Balanced → nutrients are in the correct amounts and proper ratios to one another.
If you feed the correct starter diet, you do not need extra supplements. Adding vitamins, grains, or home mixes can actually dilute critical trace nutrients and lead to deficiencies.
● Medicated starter typically contains amprolium, which helps protect against coccidiosis.
● Use medicated starter if your chicks are not vaccinated for coccidiosis
● Use a non-medicated starter if chicks are vaccinated for coccidiosis (they need natural exposure to their droppings to recycle vaccine oocysts and stimulate good immunity) or if you prefer a drug-free approach.
Avoid feeding medicated starter feed to chicks vaccinated for coccidiosis unless guided by a vet. Treatment with anticoccidial drugs like amprolium (Corrid) can negatively affect immunity and leave birds susceptible to future coccidial challenges.
● Limit scratch and treats to less than 10% of the diet. Treats are fine “every now and then,” but too much will dilute essential nutrients.
● Scratch is best introduced after 3 weeks, offered only in small amounts, and scattered across the yard or coop floor to encourage natural foraging behavior and stimulate activity.
● Grit is not needed when birds are on a commercial starter diet, as milled feeds are already ground, allowing for proper digestion. Providing grit is beneficial if offering whole grain scratch-type supplements. In most cases, grit supplementation is unnecessary — free-range birds naturally pick up grit from soil, and flocks kept in limited runs do best when maintained on a complete and balanced diet.
● Store feed in a cool, dry, rodent-proof container, metal garbage cans work well.
● Old feed loses quality: Over time, essential vitamins (like Vitamin E and A) degrade, reducing nutritional value. Always use fresh feed within 4–6 weeks of milling for best results.
● Never feed moldy or spoiled feed — it can be toxic and deadly. Moldy grains often contain mycotoxins (like aflatoxin and ochratoxin) that damage the liver, suppress immunity, and stunt growth. Birds exposed to spoiled feed may show poor appetite, weakness, or sudden death. Even small amounts of moldy feed can cause long-term health issues, so always discard damp or spoiled feed immediately.
● Provide feed and fresh, clean water 24/7.
● For newly hatched babies, place feeders closer to the heat source so they don’t have to travel far for food (especially if temps are cold in the off-end of the brooder). Use supplemental feed plates or trays in the first week to ensure easy access and encourage strong early intake.
● Clean and disinfect feeders and waterers at least once daily (more often if soiled).
● Avoid offering wet mash in the brooder — the warmth quickly causes it to sour or grow mold, creating a serious health risk. Stick with dry starter crumbles for safer, more consistent nutrition.
● Pro Tip: Inspect what you expect: After 24 hours in the brooder, at least 95% of your babies should have feed in their crop. You should be able to gently feel a small bolus of feed — about the size of a pea to a marble — at the top right side of their breast.
● Red flag: If crops are empty at 24 hours, babies may not be finding feed or water. Address immediately by showing them the feeders and waterers, or by placing feed on paper plates to stimulate pecking.
Baby turkeys (poults) and some waterfowl often struggle more than chicks in the first few days, and may need extra encouragement to start eating and drinking. Without careful attention, they can become weak quickly.
● Show them the feed: Sprinkle starter crumbles on a sheet of light tissue-type wrapping paper rather than paper towels. The crinkling noise attracts poults’ attention and stimulates pecking, making it easier for them to recognize feed. Prevent tissue paper from getting wet, switch to paper plates if ducklings try to eat the tissue paper.
● Use chicks as teachers: Poults learn by imitation. Mixing in a few day-old chicks can speed up the learning process as poults copy their pecking and drinking behavior.
● Monitor closely: Simply pecking at feed isn’t enough. Always confirm poults are actually swallowing by checking for crop fill. Crops should begin to feel partially filled within the first 12–24 hours.
● Watch the droppings: Normal droppings indicate that poults are consuming and digesting feed properly. Little to no droppings, or watery/yellow droppings, may signal that they’re not eating enough.
● Hydration first: Poults may need to be shown water before they’ll eat. Dipping their beaks gently into the waterer can help them learn to drink. Adding bright-colored marbles to the water dish can also attract their attention and stimulate pecking.
● Patience and persistence: Some poults require repeated encouragement over the first 2–3 days. Spend extra time during this window to set them up for success — once they establish the routine, they generally catch up quickly.
Key takeaway: Chicks are naturally quick learners, but poults and waterfowl need a little more coaching. Using noisy tissue-type wrapping paper, teaching companions, and careful monitoring helps them transition smoothly into feeding on their own.
● Myth: “Babies need supplements and scratch on top of starter feed for variety.”
● Truth: A high-quality starter crumble is already complete and balanced. Adding extras too soon often dilutes nutrition and can cause deficiencies.
By choosing the right starter crumble, matching the diet to the species, deciding wisely between medicated and non-medicated feed, and limiting scratch to small amounts, you’ll give your chicks (and poults and ducklings) the nutritional foundation they need for healthy, resilient growth.
CEO & Founder of Poultry Doc, Inc