Do garden foragers still need grit?

[LER23]

I started out puttin grit out for my chickens when they wrre small and kept in their run. Now that they are big I let them into the back yard to forage and have assumed they will get enough grit just by the amount of dirt, etc, they pick up as they peck about in the lawn, under shrubs, and in the leaf litter. Is this a correct assumption or shoud I keep putting grit out? TIA for your answers.

 

[sourland]

It depends on the availability of pebbles/small stones in the area they forage.

 

[Debbie292d]

I started out puttin grit out for my chickens when they wrre small and kept in their run. Now that they are big I let them into the back yard to forage and have assumed they will get enough grit just by the amount of dirt, etc, they pick up as they peck about in the lawn, under shrubs, and in the leaf litter. Is this a correct assumption or shoud I keep putting grit out? TIA for your answers.

We actually use our garden dirt for grit for the chicks in the brooder. @sourland is right though as we don't know what your dirt is. Take a look and as long as it's not fine dust but feels "gritty", they should be getting what they need.

 

[Tonyroo]

Scoop out dirt in your garden with a hand shovel. Place it on a hard surface and spread it to a thin layer. There should be sand, small pebbles, and other organic material.

If you don't see the sand and pebbles, grab a shovel and goto a spot in your yard that has natural untouched dirt it will have a lot sand and pebbles in it.

I never used grit and it's been 4 years keeping chickens. My yard consists of sand, pebbles, rocks of all sizes with some organic intervention on my part.

 

[saysfaa]

I have to bring a pail of dirt from somewhere else if I don't give them grit from the store.

Until I moved here, I didn't know the glaciers sometimes sifted sand into massive sandbars of uniformly fine sand.