Pasture suitable to week old chicks

So you want to keep your chicks in a safe place for the first couple of weeks at least so that they don't get eaten during the fluffball stage.  But you also want them to learn to forage and start getting their vegetables.  What do you do?  Bring the pasture to the chicks, of course!

My previous attempts at interesting week old chicks in pasture products have failed miserably, but our most recent batch are a new breed --- Light Sussex --- that shows absolutely no shyness around me.  The chicks' tameness makes it easy for me toss in handfuls of mixed weeds and see what floats their boat.

At one week old, chick beaks don't have enough heft to break much apart, so you have to stick to very tender morsels.  Even the smallest compost worms I pulled out of our worm bin were too much for them, and most plants were equally tough.  However, the chicks did pick out two winners --- Sourgrass (Oxalis stricta) and Tick Trefoil (Desmodium sp.)  Both plants are enjoyed by adult chickens too, so I knew our chicks weren't doing themselves any harm.  But while the adults eat Sourgrass's leaves and Tick Trefoil's mature seeds, our chicks were sticking to the flowers, flower buds, and tender fruits of both.

Check out the video at the top of this post to see the enthusiasm with which our baby flock greeted their third weed bouquet.  I guess I'm going to have to add selective weed-pulling to my morning chicken chores!