chick grit/adult grit?

[joletabey]

I have my 12 week old kids on medicated chick starter. When I feed treats (so far banana, scrambled egg, broccoli buds, green grapes, sometimes oatmeal or yogurt) I sprinkle it with parakeet grit. They are now in their coop with a huge run which is mostly snow covered. Are they old enough for regular grit? When should I switch?

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

Chick grit is for chicks under 10wks. Chicken grit is for 10wks and older. So yes you can go ahead and switch.

 

[joletabey]

Thank you!

 

[HEChicken]

Instead of sprinkling the treats with it, why not offer it free choice? They seem to know when they need it and will help themselves.

 

[mdbokc]

Agree. I make mine available in a separate bowl by the oyster shell. They eat what they want when they want. The bowls are along the wall at back of picture. Right now, they are eating a bowl every couple of days whereas it was a bowl every 3 weeks in the summer.

 

[joletabey]

I didn't want them to fill up on grit instead of their starter, but now that they are older and out and about, I should make it free choice.

 

[gsim]

Quote:
you should be giving them free choice grit now. Coarse sand like used for cement is excellent and tons cheaper than the bagged granite. They are old enough for brocilli stems, diced. I never throw anything green away unless it is a green potato peel. I have given mine carrot stems/greens, beet stems/greens, radish stems/leaves beet stems/leaves, and assorted garden waste and grass clippings since they were 1 week old. Mine began to lay at 4 months and are egg-laying machines at 8 months giving me 20-22 eggs from 23 pullets every day. No artificial light so I am doing something right. They get greens all year however it takes for me to do it and will walk away from scratch grain for any type of greens. I have never fed mine 100% store-bought feed, ever. They get around 1/4 of their intake as veggies and fruits and grass all year long. And the grass clippings are free, and they pounce on them every time and gobble them up. What surplus grass clippings I have is litter in the coop. Smells good and did I say, it is free!

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
You'd want to be careful that none of the grass clippings come from lawns that have been fertilized or had herbicides sprinkled on them. You are lucky if you live in a region where you can get grass clippings year round. Here, they are seasonal!

 

[joletabey]

USUALLY there are very few days with snow on the ground, so there would be some kind of grass available for most of the year. This year is an exception. I can certainly find them more greens, and will enjoy doing so- thanks for all the advice!

 

[felidaet]

Be aware that there are different sizes of grit, #1 - #4. I believe but am not certain that #1 is chick grit. I switched my chicks from chick grit to #2 size grit when they were 12 weeks old. The store where I get my grit said they can stay on size #2, There is no need to move up to size #3 when they are full grown. They said #4 is for turkeys.

To the person that mentioned using sand instead of grit because it is cheaper, you might want to check around to various feed stores. I bought mine from a local feed store for less than $10.00 for 50 lbs. 50 lbs is going to last a long time. This is the same feed store that sells it in 4 sizes.