Chick grit

[Alex S]

How much grit do baby chicks need? I'm planning on ordering like a 7 pound bag (for 3 chicks)
Will that be enough? Also when do they need grit?

 

[Mamatomany123]

They dont need grit until you start giving them anything other than chick feed, which you shouldn't do until they're a bit older. Not sure on how much they need. I let mine find their grit naturally but we have very rocky soil.

 

[Ryguy3684]

You're supposed to be wait until they are 2 weeks, according to the bag. If they are just eating chick starter feed, they don't need grit. Once they go outside, or get treats, they'll need grit. If it's in a dish, just make sure they don't binge on it. I offer it for a few minutes, at first, so they don't fill up on rocks.

 

[Brooks_]

7# will last a good, long while.

 

[Alex S]

You're supposed to be wait until they are 2 weeks, according to the bag. If they are just eating chick starter feed, they don't need grit. Once they go outside, or get treats, they'll need grit. If it's in a dish, just make sure they don't binge on it. I offer it for a few minutes, at first, so they don't fill up on rocks.

When do they stop eating chick starter feed?

 

[Ryguy3684]

You can feed it until they are almost ready to start laying. Then, once they start laying, if you only have hens, you can switch to a layer feed. I have a rooster that I don't want getting all the extra calcium in layer feed, so I feed Flock Raiser and leave out a dish of oyster shell grit for the girls to eat.

 

[azygous]

My personal opinion is that baby chicks benefit from having access to chick grit right from day one. Chicks right out of the egg have an instinct to peck at the ground in search of grit, and when they are raised on sand as my chicks are, they immediately set out to pick grit up and swallow it, thus kitting out their little gizzards to be ready for any food that happens to present itself. Having observed many batches of baby chicks over the years, the chicks do not "binge". They equip their gizzards and then lose interest in eating the sand. (Chick grit is close to the particle size of sand.)

This fulfills a natural instinct and it's a good insurance policy against a chick happening to get hold of something that may be hard to digest such as an ignorant boy friend or a toddler slipping a treat to the chicks that they shouldn't have. It's true that chicks raised on chick starter don't need grit, but if they happen to eat something other than that, they are better equipped to deal with it instead of getting bound up and dying from constipation.

I have never seen a chick get into trouble having early access to grit. Quite the contrary, chicks, in trying to satisfy their urge to pick up grit will sometimes eat shavings instead, and that rarely ends well.

You can feed chick starter as long as you wish. It's almost identical in ingredients as all flock feed. In fact, I bought a 50 pound sack of chick starter this week to feed my all-adult flock because the stupid Big R store only had a couple of four-month old sacks of Flock Raiser, and the chick starter had a current mill date.

 

[Ryguy3684]

My personal opinion is that baby chicks benefit from having access to chick grit right from day one. Chicks right out of the egg have an instinct to peck at the ground in search of grit, and when they are raised on sand as my chicks are, they immediately set out to pick grit up and swallow it, thus kitting out their little gizzards to be ready for any food that happens to present itself. Having observed many batches of baby chicks over the years, the chicks do not "binge". They equip their gizzards and then lose interest in eating the sand. (Chick grit is close to the particle size of sand.)

This fulfills a natural instinct and it's a good insurance policy against a chick happening to get hold of something that may be hard to digest such as an ignorant boy friend or a toddler slipping a treat to the chicks that they shouldn't have. It's true that chicks raised on chick starter don't need grit, but if they happen to eat something other than that, they are better equipped to deal with it instead of getting bound up and dying from constipation.

I have never seen a chick get into trouble having early access to grit. Quite the contrary, chicks, in trying to satisfy their urge to pick up grit will sometimes eat shavings instead, and that rarely ends well.

You can feed chick starter as long as you wish. It's almost identical in ingredients as all flock feed. In fact, I bought a 50 pound sack of chick starter this week to feed my all-adult flock because the stupid Big R store only had a couple of four-month old sacks of Flock Raiser, and the chick starter had a current mill date.

Do you know if the manufacturers have a reason for listing the chick grit as starting at two weeks? I'm not being argumentative, I'm honestly curious. I would think they would want people to buy more, therefore telling us to start at hatch. I always found that odd since a lot of people offer it from day 1.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Do you know if the manufacturers have a reason for listing the chick grit as starting at two weeks? I'm not being argumentative, I'm honestly curious. I would think they would want people to buy more, therefore telling us to start at hatch. I always found that odd since a lot of people offer it from day 1.

Hmm,I never noticed that listed. I wonder why also. I dont offer store bought grit but do offer a dirt bath from day one. The chicks do start picking out pieces really early on. I did that with my first batch of chicks and have never had a problem with chicks or chickens not finding grit.

 

[azygous]

Do you know if the manufacturers have a reason for listing the chick grit as starting at two weeks? I'm not being argumentative, I'm honestly curious. I would think they would want people to buy more, therefore telling us to start at hatch. I always found that odd since a lot of people offer it from day 1.

I do not know the manufacturers' rationale when they recommend starting grit at age two weeks. But I've observed broody hens raising chicks and they encourage their tiny charges to pick up grit from the ground as soon as they are able to tumble out of the broody nest. I figure broody hens over thousands of years know a bit more about chick rearing that suits in offices.