Chicks and Grit

[StephC28]

Hi All,
I have 8- 3 week old Barred Rocks and RI Reds. Over the weekend I gave them some worms we found outside and some mashed up hard boiled eggs. Was I supposed to give them grit with this? Are they going to get sick if I didn't?
Thanks!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

They should be OK but grit would probably help them digest the worms. The boiled eggs won’t be a problem at all.

Since chickens don’t have teeth, they can’t grind things up. They eat rocks so the gizzard can use the rocks as teeth to grind with so they can digest things. Some stuff, like grass or other vegetation, can get tangled in their gizzard and block it, so there is some danger there. Hard stuff, like grains, have to be ground up so they can be digested. Worms should not cause harm, but it’s still better to give them grit if you feed them anything other than chick feed. It’s just a reasonable precaution even if they are not eating anything you are aware of that might need grit.

It’s not that hard to give them grit. If you let them on the ground, they will find their own. You can usually buy chick grit at the feed store. Coarse sand will work, either construction sand or just sand from a riverbed or creek bed. I just feed them dirt that has some sand in it. They’ll eat it and get grit.