Basic questions: At what point …

One of the first things a broody hen does is take her chicks where they can peck at the ground. That's getting grit in their systems. If your soil has any rock in it they can get their own, you don't have to buy it. Play sand or sugar sand is too fine to act as grit but if it has any larger bits, sand is great.

Once they have grit in their system they can eat about anything. The grit allows them to grind it up in their gizzard. NatJ is right about size, larger pieces can get stuck in the crop, which is well before the grinding in the gizzard. @NatJ yeah one piece won't kill them. It's when there is enough to form a ball that it's a problem. And it is pretty rare, just another one of those things where it can happen but usually doesn't.

If you are feeding them a chick starter they don't need grit, it has already been ground up and will fall apart in their digestive juices. But if you give them about anything other than chick feed they should have grit. Chick feed contains all the nutrients they need, you do not need to feed them anything else. But if you do, try to keep those "treats" to a small part of their diet so you don't mess up the balanced diet they get with chick feed.

My chicks raised by broody hens eat some chick feed but for most of the day she has them out foraging for food. I'm sure what they forage is a large part of their diet and they do fine. But they forage on a lot of different things, not just one or two treats I give them so their diet is a lot more balanced than you might think.
I have sand and dirt in my run. So i know my chicks get grit. But as chicks before they go outside i give them grit.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom