Feeding BP chickens

Has anyone tried feeding their BP chicks or chickens? I read that BP eat them in the wild, and a feed store near me sells chicks every few months. So far my Lizzy will only eat live mice. I’ve tried live rat pups and fuzzys she just won’t eat them for some strange reason. I’m thinking some variety in her diet might be nice when she gets big enough.

She eats 1 small mouse every 4-5 days, I basically feed her the day after she poops. She’s a little thicker than a quarter at her belly. She's about 3 months old.

I have other animals that eat fowl so I'll offer occasionally to the BPs but I haven't had one taken yet. I've offered chicken and quail.

see this recent thread.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...r-than-rodents

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Originally Posted by Lizzypines

Has anyone tried feeding their BP chicks or chickens? I read that BP eat them in the wild, and a feed store near me sells chicks every few months. So far my Lizzy will only eat live mice. I’ve tried live rat pups and fuzzys she just won’t eat them for some strange reason. I’m thinking some variety in her diet might be nice when she gets big enough.

She eats 1 small mouse every 4-5 days, I basically feed her the day after she poops. She’s a little thicker than a quarter at her belly. She's about 3 months old.

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I have some who eat day old chicks. Some won't touch them, some love them. You'll have to wait til you try it to see how your's will do with them.

The ones I have who do like them get them every 3 or 4 weeks usually, although that changes depending on availability and if there are any leftovers from others.

A few of mine like quails as well, although not as many. If you're looking to do the variety thing, you may want to try those later on as well.

Nice, thanks all. I just don't want to end up with a grown rooster if she won't eat it. Quail seems like the way to go on this one.

Wow never heard of a BP on fowl!! Very interesting as my aunt owns an organic chicken farm!! Anyone else have any input as this being another food source? Live vs fk vs ft? Sorry just interested as this will greatly save feed costs for me...please tell me if it is a bad idea! Hope im not hijacking. :confusd:

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Originally Posted by ItsAllNew2Me!

Wow never heard of a BP on fowl!! Very interesting as my aunt owns an organic chicken farm!! Anyone else have any input as this being another food source? Live vs fk vs ft? Sorry just interested as this will greatly save feed costs for me...please tell me if it is a bad idea! Hope im not hijacking. :confusd:

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Suitability of day old chicks as food for captive snakes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20626504

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Originally Posted by 200xth

Suitability of day old chicks as food for captive snakes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20626504

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If you have it, could you please send me the full text paper of the article you cited. I would be interested to read it and the abstract isn't very informative.

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Originally Posted by ItsAllNew2Me!

Wow never heard of a BP on fowl!! Very interesting as my aunt owns an organic chicken farm!! Anyone else have any input as this being another food source? Live vs fk vs ft? Sorry just interested as this will greatly save feed costs for me...please tell me if it is a bad idea! Hope im not hijacking. :confusd:

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It is probably okay as an occasional food item, as posters here have stated they do without problems, but there's no evidence of it being a superior staple food source than rats. Knowing how chickens are raised makes me particularly concerned about pathogen transmission. Rats bred for the feeder trade are extremely clean by comparison. If your aunt raises them in the identical manner as regular hatcheries, just with organic feed, then I would still be concerned. If it's a true free-range operation, and not just FDA labeled free-range, then that would be much safer.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

Suitability of day old chicks as food for captive snakes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20626504

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Good info, Thanks!

I've seen reports suggesting that chicks are on a parr with rodents as a snake food but a variety or a mix of both is supposedly best of all .

I've got a pair of Cinnamon royals weighing 1Kg each that have been fed a mix of d/f frozen day old chicks - d/f frozen mice - d/f frozen rats in a kind of rotation . They were put on d/f chicks from hatchings .

My other Royals won't touch them sadly .

Also they're about a tenth of the price of mice .

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Originally Posted by Jabberwocky Dragons

It is probably okay as an occasional food item, as posters here have stated they do without problems, but there's no evidence of it being a superior staple food source than rats. Knowing how chickens are raised makes me particularly concerned about pathogen transmission. Rats bred for the feeder trade are extremely clean by comparison. If your aunt raises them in the identical manner as regular hatcheries, just with organic feed, then I would still be concerned. If it's a true free-range operation, and not just FDA labeled free-range, then that would be much safer.

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Thanks for the info. Her farm is 100% free range on land that has not had any chemical fertilization in the last 70 years (documented). I was also asking about day old chicks so i don't think they would have been on feed yet. Just an idea on something i can throw into the rat mix possibly as i can get them from her at the cost of a 2 hour drive lol. Thanks again I will check out that article.

does feeding your BP's chick/quail/fowl affect it's poop?

it would be nice to treat them on occasion to something other than rodents but i might not do it if it gives them the runs or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Ax01

does feeding your BP's chick/quail/fowl affect it's poop?

it would be nice to treat them on occasion to something other than rodents but i might not do it if it gives them the runs or whatever.

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Some people say it does. Mine that eat the chicks or quail don't seem to have a problem.