There’s something special about baby chicks, whether you are watching your mother hen take care of their peep of chicks, or you’re hand-rearing them yourself.
We all know how much these things love to eat, but it’s important that we, as owners, feed them foods that will nourish them and help them grow.
This is why it’s so important to keep them on a chick starter for their early development. But, there are also some amazingly healthy foods you can incorporate into a baby chick’s diet, giving it some variety of nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Here we go through if baby chicks can eat banana, what benefits it actually has, and how to feed it to your baby chicks to be sure they get the benefits without overindulging.
Can Baby Chicks Eat Banana?
Baby chicks are very vulnerable creatures, and a lot of their developmental health comes directly from their diet. As a general rule, the younger the baby chick is, the more selective you should be with their diet.
From 4 weeks of age, baby chicks can eat small amounts of banana, as it’s super nutritious, energy-rich, and easy for your baby chicks to consume.
Bananas are high in vitamins B and C. They also contain fiber and potassium, which are very beneficial for your chicks. However, they’re high in sugar, and too much sugar is bad for chickens.
Although it’s safe for baby chicks to eat small pieces of fruits as early as a week old, and this may even help the chickens imprint on you, nothing is better for them than their formulated chick starter. This accounts for every bit of nutrition that a baby chick needs to grow well, so it should always be their main source of food.
For this reason, it’s best to wait at least 4-8 weeks until you start introducing bananas and other types of foods to their diet. But, from this age onwards baby chicks can have some crushed-up banana, rolled oats, or carrots as a supplement to their normal diet.
Are Bananas Healthy For Baby Chicks?
So, before you crush up some bananas for your peep of chicks, it’s important to understand the nutritional qualities the banana has to offer.
Firstly, bananas are packed full of vitamins, having wondrous effects on your chicken’s natural immunity and wellbeing.
Bananas are also considered to be very high energy, stemming from natural sugars and carbohydrates.
Not to mention, there are countless minerals and antioxidants which play a crucial part in the health and
The downside of bananas for baby chicks is that they simply offer very little protein content, and baby chicks need up to 18% protein for their rapid development.
Plus of course, bananas are relatively high in sugar. The digestive system of chickens isn’t intended to absorb and digest large amounts of sugar. So, it’s important to only feed your chickens and chicks banana in moderation, only as a rare treat!
How To Serve Bananas To Your Baby Chicks?
The best way to serve bananas to your baby chicks is to squish it up into small soft chunks first. You can cut the banana into small slices first, then use the flat part of the blade to crush it into a thick paste.
The baby chicks will be able to swallow the pieces much easier, and it will need less work to be digested.
Remember, only feed bananas to your baby chicks as a rare treat, and ideally after they are at least 4 weeks old.
Baby chicks can eat both ripe and unripe bananas, but slightly unripe bananas are preferable since they contain less sugar.
Dried bananas should be avoided, as they include a much higher amount of sugar and contain preservatives that aren’t considered healthy for your baby chicks.
Lastly, the banana peels themselves are safe for your chicks to eat, but it’s not worth actively including them in their diet. Banana peels may have chemicals or other substances on them and can be a bit tough to digest too, so it’s best to avoid them!
Other Healthy Foods For Baby Chicks
So, you can feed baby chicks some forms of table scraps, but only as a supplement to their normal formulated chick starter and grower feeds.
As we know, it’s hard to overfeed baby chicks. But, this doesn’t mean we should constantly be feeding them everything under the sun!
Nonetheless, if you want to provide your chicks something healthy as a substitute for a meal of chick starter, then you can feed them small amounts of:
- Rolled Oats: High In Energy & Protein
- Carrots: Rich In Vitamins & Minerals
- Apples: Overall Health & Wellbeing
- Lettuce: Safe Choice
- Cucumbers: Nutritious And Hydrating
- Grapes: Safe Amounts Of Sugar.
- Cooked Scrambled Egg: High In Protein
Summary
From the age of 8 weeks old, bananas are perfectly safe for young chicks to eat. You can even feed your chicks banana at an early age, but the younger they are, the more conservative you should be with their diet.
Nothing nourishes a baby chick quite like chick starter or chick grower feeds. But, as a treat, bananas are totally healthy.
Remember to mash it up first, as it makes it that much easier for them to eat and digest!