I'm afraid my 6-week-old chicks are eating too much dirt and grass!

[Dragonfly830]

I have 3 six-week-old silkie chicks who have lived indoors all their lives, with the exception of spending a few minutes some days roaming around on the grass. A few days ago, I introduced them to their coop in the backyard. I'm afraid that with them spending all their time on the ground exploring, eating whatever they can find, (dirt, random plants, bugs) they're going to get sick, or impacted, or something.

I haven't been feeding them grit due to not being able to find any small enough for chicks and them only eating medicated chick starter up till now. I live in Texas, where my soil is clay-like and full of little rocks, and the temperature has been getting up to 103! (Edit: I haven't let them out at temperatures that high, of course! )

Do I need to limit their outdoor exposure and keep them from eating all this stuff, or am I being paranoid? I'm a first-time chicken owner, so everything is stressing me out!

 

[kmom08]

My husband took a hammer to a ziplock baggie of regular size grit when our feed store was out of chick grit. I would make sure they have access to grit.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would be more concerned about them being overheated. They should be able to find some grit in your soil. At 6 weeks of age, they should be able to eat the grit that you would buy for adult chickens. I scoop up some of the larger gravel in my driveway for my chicks. They are benefitting from eating that soil and grass in the run. Chicks should be exposed to native soils within their first 2 weeks of life to help them develop a healthy balance of microbes in their gut, and a healthy immune system.

 

[Thyme4Chickens]

I haven't been feeding them grit due to not being able to find any small enough for chicks and them only eating medicated chick starter up till now. I live in Texas, where my soil is clay-like and full of little rocks,

Have you seen them eating any of the little rocks? They may be finding their own grit...

I got a bag of #2 size poutry granite grit from Fleet Farm, and when my chicks were younger I sifted it (through a little plastic toy sand sifter that I had on hand!) to find the smaller bits for them.

Here is a post on grit: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-science-of-feeding-grit-to-poultry.891051/

ETA: I was too slow! Great idea about smashing up the bigger grit!