Baby chicks and grit

[txchickie]

This stuff is like crack to them, they are constantly eating grit and love the stuff....is that normal?

All I feed is chick starter and I give alfalfa sprouts and wheat grass for treats in the mornings (I go out and steal wheat from the field behind us while my dog does his business in the morning

). And I don't feed a lot of the sprouts and wheat either????

 

[Chicken Fruit]

I give my chicks grit, and they also only eat the rare snack and chick starter.

I've never had a problem with it. its supposed to be only 10% of their food ration every day, and i give quite a bit less than that.

 

[Oceanseve]

i think i may have goofed this morning i gave them a lid full of grit thinking they'd just peck at it whenever...... its gone..... every bit..... can they OD on grit?

are they going to starve now cause they are too full of grit? and wont be able to eat adequately?

 

[Chic Chick]

So what is the age to start giving the chicks grit and other veggie treats?

 

[cmom]

A chicken's food goes, as is, into the crop, where it is slowly funneled into a very small " stomach" for some digestive additives--then to the Gizzard, where it is 'chewed', that is, ground into material that can be digested as it moves into the intestines and so on. The Gizzard is best able to break down whole grains and other chunky bits that they eat when full of grit. Longest lasting grit is Granite, that lasts well. All other rock and stone is so much softer, that it wears down fast and that is why granite grit is best choice, works really well for best utilization of feeds. My baby chicks are given free choice and they choose it with pleasure, baby grit is fine Granite, as soon as they are given anything besides Starter Crumbles. Their tiny gizzards are at optimum function at an early age. I feed my birds Starter/Grower feed until they start to lay then I switch over to layer feed. If I have any Starter/Grower feed left over I mix it in with the layer feed.

I give mine almost everything. Here is the link to BYC Chicken Treat Chart.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

 

[Desert Plum]

Quote:
Yay! What an awesome list! I have some spinach that is a bit overgrown in my yard and 3wk old chicks that might be looking for something different. I will try the chick grit with chopped spinach to see if they like it.

 

[JennsPeeps]

They won't OD on grit. They're just filling up their gizzard from 0. If we saw how much grit the adults eat in a day we'd probably be shocked.

Parakeet grit is what I give my chicks from about week one. My girls had their first treats - crickets - last weekend. They are now 2 weeks old.

Why not give them nutritious treats from an early age? If they were with a hen, she'd be introducing them to bugs & vegetation as soon as they started eating.

 

[Oceanseve]

Gave mine crickets and mealworms

That was fun, thats a good point on grit filling from 0.... I guess if I offered more and more they would probably eat less and less of it.

 

[lisahaschickens]

In Gail Damerow's book, "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens," she says to not give chicks free-choice grit because they most definitely can and often will fill up on it instead of feed, which is not good for them. Instead, you should just sprinkle it on their food like you are salting it. Then they will definitely get some but not over do it. I'm sure they will be fine, but I would restrict their access from now on until they are more grown up.

 

[Oceanseve]

yeah, I've read that too, but sprinkling in a large group wouldn't guarentee everyone getting some, just like the treats I gave them, only the ones with attitude got some

It was really fun to listen to the "I've got it, I've got it..... what do I do now" chirps as they ran around the brooder trying to keep their prize