grit with crumbles or no grit

I am just a little confused many years a go I can remember uncle and dad feeding the chickens and so on cracked corn wheat and grit . now I have read you don't need to feed grit if you feed crumbles I have read people also put bowls of grit out for the chickens and fowl . so to grit or not to grit that is the question .

I have been mixing grit with my feed oyster and granite now I have read no oyster ? so what is right ??

shoetou said:

I am just a little confused many years a go I can remember uncle and dad feeding the chickens and so on  cracked corn wheat and grit . now I have read you don't need to feed grit if you feed crumbles I have read people also put bowls of grit out for the chickens and fowl . so to grit or not to grit that is the question .

  I have been mixing grit with my feed oyster and granite now I have read no oyster ? so what is right ??  

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I had a container of free choice grit and a container of free choice oyster shell if you have layers. If they have access to anything other than crumbles even grass they will need grit. I hope this helps.

Grit is never a bad thing to offer, it's not technically needed if they are being only fed a diet of commercially proceeded crumbles... If you feed any unprocessed 'treats' or let your chickens out of the coop at anytime where they can get unprocessed food, grit should be offered to them...

Oyster shells and grit serve two different purposes... Oyster shells are for calcium supplementation in laying hens, grit is to grind up food in the gizzard...

If you offer both, it's best not to mix them, offer them in separate bowls or tossed on the ground where the chickens can better choose what they need...

Also grit should be of the proper size or it does little good...

Do I still need to provide grit if mine have access to the rocks and gravel and stones in the yard? I haven't been providing it because I'd heard they wouldn't need it if they have access to small rocks and gravel.

I do. But probably don't need too.

chicapee said:

I had a container of free choice grit and a container of free choice oyster shell if you have layers....

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X2 Separate containers is the proper method.

One shouldn't mix oyster shell or any calcium source with grit or feed.
It's ok to sprinkle grit on feed but I still prefer a separate container to give the chickens a choice.

MeepBeep said:

Grit is never a bad thing to offer, it's not technically needed if they are being only fed a diet of commercially proceeded crumbles... If you feed any unprocessed 'treats' or let your chickens out of the coop at anytime where they can get unprocessed food, grit should be offered to them...

Oyster shells and grit serve two different purposes... Oyster shells are for calcium supplementation in laying hens, grit is to grind up food in the gizzard...

If you offer both, it's best not to mix them, offer them in separate bowls or tossed on the ground where the chickens can better choose what they need...

Also grit should be of the proper size or it does little good...

Click to expand...

Good points.
For chickens, there are 3 sizes recommended. #1 chick grit is good up to 3 or 4 weeks, #2 adolescent grit is good up to 7 or 8 weeks and #3 is for all older birds. So they quickly outgrow the various sizes.
Too small and it will pass right through the gizzard rather than getting lodged and assisting with grinding food.

Even birds on crumble can still benefit since grit strengthens the gizzard.

4030323 said:

Do I still need to provide grit if mine have access to the rocks and gravel and stones in the yard? I haven't been providing it because I'd heard they wouldn't need it if they have access to small rocks and gravel.

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Not necessarily.
The way I look at it, grit is cheap and lasts a long time so I provide it with most flocks.

I find that even free range birds will occasionally consume some.

Shoetou, I’m not sure I’m reading your question exactly right. I think what you are talking about is what the British and some others call soluble grit. I’ll admit to being a little confused by your last sentence and could be wrong.

In the US when we say grit we are talking about what the British and some others call insoluble grit. That’s small bits of rock the chickens use in their gizzards to grind up their food that needs to be ground, much as we use out teeth. If they have access to the ground they should be able to find their own insoluble grit so you should not need to add any. It doesn’t hurt to give them some insoluble grit, either in a separate container or just toss it on the ground so they can have the fun of searching and scratching for it.

Regular commercial chicken feed in the form of pellets or crumble has already been ground up, then water added to bond it together, and then dried. Mash is just ground up and not wetted. The chickens do not need grit to eat commercial chicken feed in these forms since it has already been ground up but should have insoluble grit if they eat much of anything else.

Soluble grit is what we call a calcium supplement. The most common is oyster shell. It dissolves in the chicken’s digestive system in the digestive juices and is used by laying hens to form the shell of the eggs. All chickens need a little calcium for body functions and maintenance but laying hens need a lot more. A common way to provide this is to offer the calcium supplement in another separate container. The ones that need the calcium tend to eat enough of it and those that don’t need the excess calcium don’t eat enough to harm themselves.

Chickens can get calcium from a lot of sources, commercial chicken feed, some plants they eat, some creepy crawlies, and even the rock in your area if some of it is limestone. The way to tell if you need to add a calcium supplement is to look at your egg shells. If they are hard and thick the hens are getting enough calcium. If the shells are thin or soft, they need more calcium.

When you say “crumbles” you are not telling me how much calcium is in the feed. Crumbles is just a form of the feed, like pellets or mash. You need to look at the label to see how much calcium is in that specific feed. If it is somewhere around 4% then what you are feeding is commonly called Layer and should have enough calcium in it for the hens to form their egg shells as long as that feed is all you feed. If you feed other things in addition to Layer you could be diluting the amount of calcium they are getting so you probably should offer a calcium supplement on the side. If the calcium in the feed is around 1% then they will not get enough calcium from that for the egg shells. It’s possible they could get enough calcium from other sources but I’d really want to offer a calcium supplement in a separate container for them. But the hardness of your egg shells will tell you if the hens are getting enough calcium.

thanks all for the replies I can sort this out better now