at what point should I begin giving them grit?
Chickens do not have teeth to use to grind up things that need to be ground up, so they eat small rocks and use those in their gizzard to grind things up. Most commercial chicken feed has already been ground up so they don't need grit for that. As soon as they get wet with digestive juices they return to powder. Some chicken feeds like scratch (meant to be a treat, not a balanced diet), some organic or pretend-to-be-organic feeds are not ground up and are still whole grains. They need grit for those. They need grit if they eat grass or other vegetation, hard-shelled bugs or many other critters, grains, persimmon seeds, basically anything that needs to be ground up to be digested. If you boil eggs and feed those to them, or give them yogurt or bananas they do not need grit. If you need teeth to eat it then they need grit to eat it.
You should be able to buy chick grit at the feed store. You need the chick grit, not the normal grit, to get the right size. I don't do that. Mine get access to the ground so they find their own. The grit you buy is pretty inexpensive, it's a by-product from granite quarries. They strain the spoils to get the right size instead of just throwing them away.
They do not need grit until they eat something that needs to be ground up. If all you feed them is chick starter they do not need it. One of the first thing a broody hen does is take her chicks to a spot of land where they can peck at the ground and get grit in their system. While they may not need it, it does not hurt for them to have grit early.
Chicken feed is a complete balanced diet. That's all they need as far as nutrition goes. They do not need treats. The big commercial operations sure don't feed them. But many of us do. If a broody hen is raising chicks where she can take them to a grassy spot her chicks get a lot of what we would call treats. Her chicks do not immediately fall over and die. Usually they thrive. A general rule of thumb used on this forum is that if you feed anything in addition to their regular chicken feed keep it below 10% of their total diet. That generally means only feed the as much as they can clean up in 15 minutes or so. As long as the majority of what they eat is the chicken feed they'll get a balanced diet.
I personally do not feed baby chicks treats. I don't see any benefits and the older ones get them. Typically by 5 to 8 weeks mine are out roaming with the adults. They get whatever teats the adults don't beat them to plus all the grass or vegetation they want or any creepy crawlies they can catch.. I have mulberry, pear, and plum trees in the run. They get whatever hits the ground. I toss kitchen wastes, garden wastes, and garden excess in the run. Not usable apples and peaches get tossed in there in season.
The only persimmons I'm familiar with are the native wild persimmons. I'm not familiar with the domesticated ones. I would not feed wild persimmons to baby chicks unless I removed the seeds, maybe by mashing ripe persimmons through a wire mesh grate or strainer. The seeds are too big for them to handle. When butchering chickens I have found plum pits in their gizzard, they can handle some fairly big chunks. But don't push it when they are small chicks.
As a personal preference I do not like to feed them the same treats every day, though when those fruit trees are dropping fruit they get a lot. I try to mix the treats up.
Chickens do not have teeth to use to grind up things that need to be ground up, so they eat small rocks and use those in their gizzard to grind things up. Most commercial chicken feed has already been ground up so they don't need grit for that. As soon as they get wet with digestive juices they return to powder. Some chicken feeds like scratch (meant to be a treat, not a balanced diet), some organic or pretend-to-be-organic feeds are not ground up and are still whole grains. They need grit for those. They need grit if they eat grass or other vegetation, hard-shelled bugs or many other critters, grains, persimmon seeds, basically anything that needs to be ground up to be digested. If you boil eggs and feed those to them, or give them yogurt or bananas they do not need grit. If you need teeth to eat it then they need grit to eat it.
You should be able to buy chick grit at the feed store. You need the chick grit, not the normal grit, to get the right size. I don't do that. Mine get access to the ground so they find their own. The grit you buy is pretty inexpensive, it's a by-product from granite quarries. They strain the spoils to get the right size instead of just throwing them away.
They do not need grit until they eat something that needs to be ground up. If all you feed them is chick starter they do not need it. One of the first thing a broody hen does is take her chicks to a spot of land where they can peck at the ground and get grit in their system. While they may not need it, it does not hurt for them to have grit early.
Chicken feed is a complete balanced diet. That's all they need as far as nutrition goes. They do not need treats. The big commercial operations sure don't feed them. But many of us do. If a broody hen is raising chicks where she can take them to a grassy spot her chicks get a lot of what we would call treats. Her chicks do not immediately fall over and die. Usually they thrive. A general rule of thumb used on this forum is that if you feed anything in addition to their regular chicken feed keep it below 10% of their total diet. That generally means only feed the as much as they can clean up in 15 minutes or so. As long as the majority of what they eat is the chicken feed they'll get a balanced diet.
I personally do not feed baby chicks treats. I don't see any benefits and the older ones get them. Typically by 5 to 8 weeks mine are out roaming with the adults. They get whatever teats the adults don't beat them to plus all the grass or vegetation they want or any creepy crawlies they can catch.. I have mulberry, pear, and plum trees in the run. They get whatever hits the ground. I toss kitchen wastes, garden wastes, and garden excess in the run. Not usable apples and peaches get tossed in there in season.
The only persimmons I'm familiar with are the native wild persimmons. I'm not familiar with the domesticated ones. I would not feed wild persimmons to baby chicks unless I removed the seeds, maybe by mashing ripe persimmons through a wire mesh grate or strainer. The seeds are too big for them to handle. When butchering chickens I have found plum pits in their gizzard, they can handle some fairly big chunks. But don't push it when they are small chicks.
As a personal preference I do not like to feed them the same treats every day, though when those fruit trees are dropping fruit they get a lot. I try to mix the treats up.
Plus they won't eat the grit unless they feel they need it, so it won't hurt them and a bag is pretty cheap and last a good long while.
