Can I use sand as grit?

[polishchickens111]

We are preparing to transfer out 6-week old chickens to their coop. The attached run will be filled with sand. Is this suitable grit? Finding grit has become an issue because I recently discovered that my feed store's grit includes oyster shell (you might have told me that before I feed it to young chicks, Agway!!

) Luckily, I didn't give them much. Since then, I have been digging up a pan of dirt (my dirt is full of pebbles) but this is too much trouble to do every morning, especially getting up at 6:00. Is the multi-purpose sand OK grit, or do I have to find another solution?

 

[Ardj]

I have never given grit to my chickens are any of my birds. Where I live its all sand? So, I have to believe that sand will work excuse me sand will do the trick.

Same here. I keep my girls on a sand , there is so many bigger stones in it , and the girls picking them up. It works perfectly. If you want to use a sandbox sand - I don't know about that it may be to fine. But washed concrete sand has so many good size stones in it. I don't understand why people are buying grit. There is so many birds in the world and they are doing just fine on the stones that they find everywhere - they don't buy grit. Mother nature is brilliant , wild turkeys, birds, wild chickens they all doing just fine without store bought grit.

 

[Schwartzfarmnc]

We use sand in the run also, and that is all the girls get, never had a problem with it, they eat plenty of it. Not sure why it would'nt be good, but my girls seem to be just fine with eating the sand.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Copied from my Coop Project Thread.

Here is what the entrance to the run looked like a few years ago.




The birds can be pretty hard on the ground coming out of their run. In the past it was just a bare spot, that gradually worked itself into a hole...followed by a crater. So I put down some pavers to make a nice neat little porch. I used play sand to fill in the gaps between the pavers, but over time this works its way out and I have gaps again.




So each spring I scatter a shovel full of play sand onto the pavers. The chickens stop each morning and scratch at the sand, and pick up the bigger pieces as grit for their gizzard.




After a week or so the chickens have worked the sand back into the gaps, and I'm happy.

 

[JustinR]

Sand is useless as grit, It passes right through them..

 

[dianaross77]

They don't need new grit everyday. A couple times a week would be fine. Do you have a TSC near you? They have crushed granite grit.

 

[polishchickens111]

No TSC... I'll ask around. Thanks anyway.

 

[lavenderorpgirl]

I would not recommend sand, it would not do the job and literally just in one end and out the other. Are you having a hard time finding grit? I know you can order it online at jefferspet.com

 

[~KH~]

I'm interested in knowing, too - my 7 week olds have a small sandbox for dust bathing that they peck at, but I haven't purchased any grit. They're in a moveable coop, so are on grass/weeds and not bare dirt. Do I need to be buying the packaged grit for them?

 

[stubbornhill]

The chickens that we have now and the chickens that we had in years past didn't get any grit once they got outside and were able to peck around at the ground. (free range or run) We only gave grit to our newest when they were still inside the house. Never had any issues.