Couple of questions from a newbie.

[RhpsPython]

I have half a dozen 1 week old chicks, and they are my first chickens. Everyone is eating, drinking, and pooping normal. But I have some first timer questions.

How hard or soft should their crops feel? Two of the chicks have crops that I can see plainly just looking at them, and they feel pretty full. But watching them eat they are definitely little piggies. How do I know when full becomes too full? I have no point of reference to base it on yet.
Also, I see them eat the pine shavings in their brooder. Sometimes it's just picking it up to see what it is, but other times they definitely eat it. There is chick starter constantly available too. Could this be why 2 of them feel so full even though I see all of them do it?
Last question, I promise (for now at least). I have very sandy, rocky soil. Would tiny pebbles and rocks from my yard be okay as a grit? I have some that I sifted out with some screen, thinking it may help their fullness. Or should I just wait til I can make it to the feed store on Saturday to pick up actual grit?

Maybe I'm overthinking this? Like I said everyone is acting fine and doing little chicken things.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It’s pretty typical for them to eat like pigs and stuff their crop, then don’t eat until it is at least partially digested. As long as it eventually goes down, it’s normal. That’s a survival technique. They are more vulnerable when forging so they stuff their crop when they find good food and then go someplace safer to digest it. It’s pretty common in the animal kingdom.

As long as they don’t eat a lot of the shavings it’s not a big deal. But it is possible they could get an impacted crop from eating too many. That’s when the stuff gets tangles in the crop and can’t get out. As long as the crop goes down, they are fine. Any chick on pine shavings eat a few.

They will use whatever rocks or pebbles they find as grit. You don’t have to buy anything. Use what you have.

 

[RhpsPython]

Thanks! Just being a worry wart. I'll see what it looks like in the morning just to be sure.