Chickens eating too much grit

[porchdawg71]

First time chicken keeper with a question about grit. First, some background. I have 3 hens that are 17 weeks old. They live in a coop with attached run that total is 4' x 20'. The floor is dirt with a light covering of wood flakes. Everyday they are feed 12 to 13 ounces of layer crumbles ( yes all 3 are laying at 17 weeks). And 3 ounces of a homemade whole grain mix consisting of sunflower seeds, wheat, oats, flax seed, mealworms, and corn. They gobble the mixture up, not so much the crumbles, just pick at it all day. I provide a small dish of grit (crushed granite) that I keep topped off everyday. These chickens are eating a 5 lb bag of grit every 3 weeks. I can't believe this is normal as I keep reading that a 25 lb bag will last a year. Am I doing something wrong? Any help will be appreciated.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yeah that's way too much grit. I still have the original 10 lb bag of grit I bought 5 years ago. Have you checked around the coop/run to ensure they're not just throwing it out of the dish and burying it?

For the time being I would not put out any more grit if they've been eating all of it, as they have way more than they could possibly use in their system right now. Grit can last for months in their gizzard before it's worn down enough for them to poop out.

Are you supplying them with oyster shell or some other form of calcium?

That is a lot of treats you're feeding them, in comparison to the feed (which you said they're not eating consistently? I would completely cut off the treats right now if that's the case). Treats should be no more than 10% of their intake, so right now it's more like 20% of their intake.

 

[Huntmaster]

First time chicken keeper with a question about grit. First, some background. I have 3 hens that are 17 weeks old. They live in a coop with attached run that total is 4' x 20'. The floor is dirt with a light covering of wood flakes. Everyday they are feed 12 to 13 ounces of layer crumbles ( yes all 3 are laying at 17 weeks). And 3 ounces of a homemade whole grain mix consisting of sunflower seeds, wheat, oats, flax seed, mealworms, and corn. They gobble the mixture up, not so much the crumbles, just pick at it all day. I provide a small dish of grit (crushed granite) that I keep topped off everyday. These chickens are eating a 5 lb bag of grit every 3 weeks. I can't believe this is normal as I keep reading that a 25 lb bag will last a year. Am I doing something wrong? Any help will be appreciated.

What size of grit are you giving them there is different sizes. To small and they just pass it right through there systems and doesn't hold in gizzard.

 

[NatJ]

These chickens are eating a 5 lb bag of grit every 3 weeks.

Are you sure they are eating it all? Check the floor around the dish, under the bedding, to see if they are knocking it out of the dish.

It's common for chickens to knock food out of a dish while trying to find the perfect piece, so yours might be doing that with their grit.

They gobble the mixture up, not so much the crumbles, just pick at it all day.

It is normal for chickens to eat small amounts of food all day long. As long as they eat the right amount in the course of the day, they will be fine. Most chickens are good at eating the right amount of food, as long as they don't get too many treats.

If you want a "treat" that many chickens love, try adding water to a little of their normal food. Apparently it tastes much better wet

 

[porchdawg71]

It's Dumor poultry grit, insoluble crushed granite for adult birds.

 

[porchdawg71]

What size of grit are you giving them there is different sizes. To small and they just pass it right through there systems and doesn't hold in gizzard.

It's Dumor poultry grit, insoluble crushed granite for adult birds.

 

[porchdawg71]

Are you sure they are eating it all? Check the floor around the dish, under the bedding, to see if they are knocking it out of the dish.

It's common for chickens to knock food out of a dish while trying to find the perfect piece, so yours might be doing that with their grit.


It is normal for chickens to eat small amounts of food all day long. As long as they eat the right amount in the course of the day, they will be fine. Most chickens are good at eating the right amount of food, as long as they don't get too many treats.

If you want a "treat" that many chickens love, try adding water to a little of their normal food. Apparently it tastes much better wet

Thanks for the tip about the water. Tried it this morning and couldn't believe what I was seeing. They normally pick at the feed all day and will maybe eat 1 ounce of it. I put the mash mixture in there and after a very deliberate taste test, it was a full scale attack on the dish. Heads bobbing so fast I couldn't keep track of it. They cleaned out 4 ounces of the feed in 20 minutes and were pecking at the bottom of the dish trying to get the residual. Thanks.

 

[Dhkoenig]

Yeah that's way too much grit. I still have the original 10 lb bag of grit I bought 5 years ago. Have you checked around the coop/run to ensure they're not just throwing it out of the dish and burying it?

For the time being I would not put out any more grit if they've been eating all of it, as they have way more than they could possibly use in their system right now. Grit can last for months in their gizzard before it's worn down enough for them to poop out.

Are you supplying them with oyster shell or some other form of calcium?

That is a lot of treats you're feeding them, in comparison to the feed (which you said they're not eating consistently? I would completely cut off the treats right now if that's the case). Treats should be no more than 10% of their intake, so right now it's more like 20% of their intake.

Question - I have always meant to ask this question but never have - Do fruits and vegetables count as treats? Like micro-greens, alfalfa sprouts, herbs, tomatoes, melon...?

 

[NatJ]

Question - I have always meant to ask this question but never have - Do fruits and vegetables count as treats? Like micro-greens, alfalfa sprouts, herbs, tomatoes, melon...?

It depends on who you ask.

Some people allow unlimited amounts of such things, while some other people include them as treats, and make sure the total is less than 10% of a chicken's diet.

With high-fat treats (like mealworms and sunflower seeds), people worry that chickens will get too fat.

With high-water and high-fiber things like what you named, people worry that the chickens will not eat enough of their other food, and will have too little calories & protein.

I tend not to worry about green plants, tomatoes, melon and similar things, and I have never personally had chickens with problems from overeating those things. Some of those things cause effects you might notice, like if they eat a lot of watermelon and have red poop (harmless, but can scare the owner because red poop is normally a sign of a problem), and they may drink less from their waterer (because the melon has so much water.)

 

[rosemarythyme]

Question - I have always meant to ask this question but never have - Do fruits and vegetables count as treats? Like micro-greens, alfalfa sprouts, herbs, tomatoes, melon...?

I agree with NatJ, it depends on who you ask (not very helpful, I know). IMO I do consider fruits/veggies as treats, but they're much more nutritious treats than things that are high fat like BOSS or worse, human leftovers like pizza. So if you go over the oft-quoted 10% treat limit with vegetables, I think you should be fine as long as they're still eating their daily feed (if they stop eating their feed you should discontinue/lessen treats until they're back to eating feed).