Dirt versus grit?

[ellandeeranch]

I'm taking advantage of the newbie status. I searched "dirt," "grit," and "dirt versus grit" trying to find out the answer to this simple question.

If my chickens have a dirt (not grass) run, do they still need me to supply grit? We live out in the desert, and one thing we got out here is all the sandy dirt you want.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Grit is pretty much sand. I think you'll be fine. That's what mine get... just the yard.

 

[yankeehill]

I'm new to chickens too, so not much wisdom here...but, the man at the feed store I bought my chicks from said as long as the chickens have access to dirt and pebbles, they don't need grit. For us, that means in the winter I'll need to give them grit, since there will be snow on the ground.

 

[ellandeeranch]

Believe it or not, in the western end of the Mojave, we get a half dozen or so "snow events" every year. Our property is almost exactly at 3000 feet. It's what I call "friendly snow," because it's always gone within one or two days. The mountains around us may have snow for months at the peaks and in the valleys, but here on the desert floor, it's a pleasant treat several times a season. Driving on it sucks, because we live on a dirt road and have to sort of gun it to make it up a little muddy hill to the house!

We're in the midst of the poppy bloom each spring, so we get about 3 weeks of tourists every year. It's really nice.

I figure our chickens will be fine. First Frost is right around Halloween most years, and we can safely put out tomatoes by the 10th of April.

It doesn't stay below zero all day, so any snow is gone in a coupladays. Now, the wind chill is another story. The wind season starts around Feb 1, so the wind chill is nearly always single digits or below zero, so we build tons of wind shelters on the property. The windy season tapers around mid-July.

Thanks for the comments!

Richard

I'm new to chickens too, so not much wisdom here...but, the man at the feed store I bought my chicks from said as long as the chickens have access to dirt and pebbles, they don't need grit. For us, that means in the winter I'll need to give them grit, since there will be snow on the ground.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If you feed vast quantities of whole grains/seeds (like wheat berries and black oil sunflower seeds), I would give them grit if you don't have sharp small gravel available for them.

Otherwise, if you are feeding commercial feed, they should be ok. Sand works as grit for chicks, but they say for older birds they need larger stones. You probably have some gravel in your soil, I'd imagine.