Chicks gone wild

Dirt – Gourmet Chick Food

There are two schools of thought about raising chicks (that I know of).  The “conventional” method is to keep them in a sterilized brooder under precise conditions – lots of warmth and light, being fed manufactured chick feed with antibiotics to stave off common infections (common in massive chicken operations), fresh clean shavings changed very frequently to further prevent disease.

Then there is the traditional method (or wild method, I guess you could call it) which acknowledges that chicks being raised by the real experts (mama hens) run around on dirt and grass and eat all kinds of green things and bugs, with constant exposure to the elements, and ordinary day and light cycles.  No sterilized brooders, no powdered foods, no 250 watt bulbs, and certainly no antibiotics!

We went the conventional way at first, simply because those were the resources we had available to us.  But as I did a lot of reading at a great website, The Modern Homestead, about raising and keeping chickens, I decided that maybe our chicks would benefit from a little more tradition than convention.

So, yesterday afternoon, I dug up a clump of dirt from the backyard, with grass still attached on top and even a doomed worm poking its head out from the side, and put it in with the chicks.  It took awhile for the chicks to get used to it, but by the next morning, they had mostly devoured it (no sign of the worm).  I put another clump of dirt and grass in this afternoon, along with some sticks and leaves to make their box a little more interesting.  There was no hesitating today – they started in on the dirt like it was gourmet chick food!  Below is a picture of them pecking away at the dirt (click on the picture to see a larger version):

Chicks with their new "toys" including a fresh clump of grass and dirt, which they are eating enthusiastically.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that just plopping a clump of dirt in their box and letting them eat it is the right thing to do – but it seems right!   I’m glad they like the dirt, and that I have the chance to introduce them to elements of their future home – the backyard.  I’m glad I never used chemicals on my yard in the three years I’ve lived here.  There are a wide variety of plants in my lawn (most of which are considered edible weeds) and presumably plenty of bugs and microbiotic life, all of which will benefit the chicks, as well as any wild birds that care to stop by.

I hope the chicks will eventually reward me with lots of tasty and nutritious eggs.  But it is pleasant even now to sit by their box, watch them scratch and peck and doze, and hear their contented cheeping.  There is something about taking good care of small vulnerable creatures and having them benefit from my attention that is deeply satisfying.