Chickens won't eat grit

[EllaTheQueen6]

Hi, I have 4 chickens, Australorps, around 8-9 weeks old, and I've started to mix grit into their food. However, at the end of the day, I notice there food it gone, but the rocks remain. I think they're refusing to eat the grit and I'm not sure what to do. Any advice is appreciated

 

[thecatumbrella]

I've sprinkled grit on the food of young chicks, but I also offer a dish off to the side that they'll freely take from. You can also sprinkle some around their brooder/coop/run for them to find while foraging.

 

[townchicks]

They do not need grit every day. They will eat it as needed. Just put it in a separate container or sprinkle it on the ground so they can forage for it. Don't mix it with the food. Same for oyster shell when they start to need it.

 

[kattabelly]

Is it the right size grit for their age? Are you letting them spend time outside or offering other foods besides crumb/pellets/mash? If they aren't eating anything that needs grit to break down, they probably just know they don't need it.

 

[EllaTheQueen6]

Is it the right size grit for their age? Are you letting them spend time outside or offering other foods besides crumb/pellets/mash? If they aren't eating anything that needs grit to break down, they probably just know they don't need it.

Yeah it's the right grit, and they spend all day outside from morning until sunset (coop isn't set up so they can sleep out there yet), and I have giving them food besides for crumbles, I give them leftovers from dinner and such (If they can eat it of course)

 

[kattabelly]

Yeah it's the right grit, and they spend all day outside from morning until sunset (coop isn't set up so they can sleep out there yet), and I have giving them food besides for crumbles, I give them leftovers from dinner and such (If they can eat it of course)

They're maybe just finding enough outside that they don't need the amount of grit you're giving them in their food, then.

 

[EllaTheQueen6]

They're maybe just finding enough outside that they don't need the amount of grit you're giving them in their food, then.

I hope it's that, cause I tend to overworry about them lol

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

Let them graze in the yard and parts of the garden you are happy for them to dig up - they will eat the grit from the soil.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I hope it's that, cause I tend to overworry about them lol

If it helps, remember that the ancestors of domestic animals we live with survived on their own very well in the wild. And even fifty or a hundred years ago (and now in many places of the world), chickens got by fine foraging in the farmyard with occasional supplements from the kitchen.

When kept in artificial conditions as most of us have to do now, we supplement some just-in-case items like grit for chickens that live in cages all day long. Since yours are in a more natural setting, they’re probably getting what they need without it coming in a bag and provided in a bowl. And that’s probably true for much of their protein and calories, too. I’m not the only one caught off-balance by chickens ignoring their fancy chicken feed once they’re turned out to forage.

Note: it seems that in many non-US areas, “grit” refers to both digestive supplements (indigestible crushed rock, etc.) and calcium supplements like oyster shells. In this thread, we’re talking about the crushed rock products that birds eat and store in their gizzards to help break down food. Sort of portable teeth.