Confused.......help.......grit......oyster shells......

[JeninMN]

I have been confused by this too...so I'm piggybacking here too! When do they need to start taking the baths..I dont have anything set up for that yet...we are going to be putting the run off of the coop this weekend hopefully so they will then be going outside..do I need to have a bin of sand in the coop at this point??

And here is a really really dumb question..what is the difference between scratch and grit????and when do you start them on Scratch?

 

[dacjohns]

Jenin

Scratch is a type of food, usually cracked corn and other grains. It doesn't have as high a nutrional value as formulated rations and isn't recommended for the heat. It is mostly a treat. Some folks on low budgets and set in the "old ways" feed scratch exclusivley. I guess it's called scratch because the chickens scratch around when eating it. If they eat scratch they need grit.

Grit is small rocks. It is like the chicken's teeth. Grit helps grinding up food.

My little week old chicks are eating scratch with the momma hen. They haven't been "started" on scratch, they just eat it because momma taught them how. They free range so they get grit from pecking on the ground.

Baths? Do you mean dust baths? My week olds are doing that too.

I also live in the country so my situation might be very different than yours.

 

[smom1976]

whenever you put them in their run they will dust bath.. before I put mine in their run I always found it odd that when we put food in our hands and lowered it two them they would jump up into our hands and start scratching and laying down in our hands.. come to find out they were trying to dust bath in their food, in our hands.. that was all they did was roll around in the dirt when we put them in their run.. it was funny like a dog let free after getting a bath. They would roll.. as for grit.. well we have very sandy soil and I throw a handfull of oyster shells..(reading this post seems as though it is a no no) they eat the dirt/sand.. other than that I dont do much they seem to be doing good.. we have been giving them watermelon and other melon rinds as treats. They get all dirty when they are eating them.

 

[speckledhen]

By playsand you mean what you buy in bags at Home Depot for sandboxes? That's okay for little chicks, but it really isn't any good for later. They actually swallow little pebbles, not just sand. Think of a rock polisher/tumbler-that is what grinds their food and sort of works the same way.

 

[banter]

Chickens will roll in any warm loose material. Be aware! Mine like the bark mulch around my perennials the best! NO NO BADDDDDD Chickens! They're learning that yell real quick!