Do chicks need grit to digest "Ramen worms"?

[FlyWheel]

Title pretty much says it all. As cooked noodles are basically just ground wheat flour (perhaps with some egg added) if I wanted to give my babies a few as a treat could they handle it without grit?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Yes- without grit. You can even treat them to real worms. Great thing about earth worms is they have the grit already inside though it's not needed. Grit is for foods that require grinding. Seeds are a good example. It's teeth for chickens. What happens if they eat something that should use grit to grind? It passes through system with much less nutrients taken from it. That's it. It's not a do or die thing but good for birds to have grit when foraging or getting table scraps. Grit makes for less feed intake. Grit is small stones the birds will pick up from the dirt when outside.

I may give an insect or worm to brooding chicks now and then but generally let them to the starter feed. Once outside they get their own grit and forage. That's when I start giving actual treats and kitchen scraps/ leftovers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A way to look at it is whether you need teeth to eat it or could you take your dentures out and just gum it. Whether it has grit or not, the gizzard will “gum” it pretty well. Grit is just putting their dentures in. especially the molars.

I don’t know of any problems at all with giving them grit. Whether you buy chick grit from the feed store so you get the right size or just take some sand or dirt from your yard it doesn’t hurt a thing and might help. But as long as they are not eating anything that needs to be ground up like grass or grain it’s not really necessary.

 

[FlyWheel]

Great, that's what I was hoping, soft and mushy can be given grit free. Now I can start letting them get to know me as a friend. However I do still need to get them some grit. I tried leaving a clump of grass with a clod of dirt attached, but they haven't touched it yet. BTW, would parakeet (or other small bird) grit work as well? My local TSC is out of chick grit.