Can I use sand as baby chick grit?

[Viking84]

Can't find and chick grit at local tractor supply or farm feed stores. When we had chickens on the farm growing up we never gave any grit to the chicks. They got everything from free range with mother hen. Question is, can I use some sand from the lake or river bank at my house as chick grit?

 

[danceswithronin]

I don't see why not, but Amazon has it for sale too, that's where I usually get mine.

 

[MissChick@dee]

You could use a scoop of dirt from the yard I did. I ran it threw my garden sifter to double check for debris.
Also for very small chicks, Walmart sells boxes of tiny grit in the pet section for budgies (parakeets) one box should be more than enough until they get big enough to be out foraging for themselves.

 

[Stacyoung13]

I have never given chick grit to any of my babies. They have dirt and sand when they go out at about 3 weeks old, but not before. So far I’ve had no problems and I’ve had a lot of babies. Good luck with yours!!!

 

[The Phantom]

That will work fine.

 

[Melky]

Can't find and chick grit at local tractor supply or farm feed stores. When we had chickens on the farm growing up we never gave any grit to the chicks. They got everything from free range with mother hen. Question is, can I use some sand from the lake or river bank at my house as chick grit?

Truthfully sand is no replacement for chick grit. You can buy the chick grit cheap at any feed store like TSC or Southern states those are cheapest. Or something local to you. Sand just goes through them and provides no benefit and likely to lead to problems later. Need actual chick grit till 8 weeks of age which then should switch to poultry grit which is larger in size. They need this to grind the food in the gizzard. Without this they can not digest food.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

They only need grit once you start to give them something besides chick feed.

I've never given my chicks grit, instead I pull a clump of grass out of the garden and give it to them with all the dirt attached. Once they've destroyed that chunk I just give them another one, this has seemed to reduce the incidence of pasty butt also.

I have seen my broody hen give her chicks wireworms, similar to meal worms, at 4 days old. So they can eat non-chick foods as long as they have access to dirt or grit.

 

[Melky]

It’s not dirt or grit just grit that aids digestion.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Grit tiny stones or rocks found in dirt is Mother Nature’s way. Chick starter is really all they need...unless you’re giving treats or anything other than the starter. Mine got grit (3wks old) when I introduced mealworms. I raised mine indoors.

 

[Ghosty]

They only need grit once you start to give them something besides chick feed.

I've never given my chicks grit, instead I pull a clump of grass out of the garden and give it to them with all the dirt attached. Once they've destroyed that chunk I just give them another one, this has seemed to reduce the incidence of pasty butt also.

I have seen my broody hen give her chicks wireworms, similar to meal worms, at 4 days old. So they can eat non-chick foods as long as they have access to dirt or grit.

I give mine a big chunk of sod to dig through as well, and replace it when they've finished tearing it apart. They have fun eating the grass and digging through the dirt for grit, bugs, and other goodies.