Do Chicks Need Grit?

[chickengeorgeto]

I give chick size granite grit to all my newly hatched chicks. Grit is the first thing I put before them followed by mashed up hard boiled egg and old fashion oatmeal.
Do not feed new born chicks oyster shell, it is too soft and the wrong size for chicks.

 

[Pork Pie]

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/891051/the-science-of-feeding-grit-to-poultry

 

[lazy gardener]

Found this thread by searching this subject; just wanted to ask a quick question -- my chickens are now 16 weeks old. Still on the starter crumble (that 25 lb bag goes a long way with just 3!) in the coop feeder. However they go outside daily into their yard, and it is all dirt (very dry climate here so what little vegetation there was initially is long gone). I toss them mealworms every morning so they can get some protein and have fun foraging out there. The fact that they are eating off this dirt-only ground, is that giving them what grit they need? It's a fairly fine consistency. I don't mind supplementing but if this is doing the trick, I'll just let them do their thing! TIA.

Welcome to BYC. YOu may get better response to your questions if you start a new thread. This one is OLD!, and folks often don't respond to a thread if they see an old date on the first post. Any how, IMO, grit should be offered soon after hatch. Birds have no teeth, and they were created with a gizzard, which requires grit to function. If your sandy soil had hard bits of stone in it, it should be fine. There are some areas that simply have NO stones at all (consisting of fine silt). So, it depends on the make up of your soil. Consider this: wild birds are able to keep their gizzards stocked with grit, but they have a large area to forage over, and are not limited to your back yard. So, you'll have to assess what you have available and make your choice. I keep a bag of grit on hand. While I live in a very rocky area, my ground is frozen solid from November through mid April. So, my flock really appreciate a dish of grit in the winter.

I would caution you regarding that feed that you are still using. It is now 4 months old. A poultry nutrition expert in the flock management book written by Harvey Ussery cautions that feed 6 weeks beyond it's mill date is loosing nutrients, and on it's way to becoming rancid.

 

[BluPoLorp]

Welcome to BYC. YOu may get better response to your questions if you start a new thread. This one is OLD!, and folks often don't respond to a thread if they see an old date on the first post. Any how, IMO, grit should be offered soon after hatch. Birds have no teeth, and they were created with a gizzard, which requires grit to function. If your sandy soil had hard bits of stone in it, it should be fine. There are some areas that simply have NO stones at all (consisting of fine silt). So, it depends on the make up of your soil. Consider this: wild birds are able to keep their gizzards stocked with grit, but they have a large area to forage over, and are not limited to your back yard. So, you'll have to assess what you have available and make your choice. I keep a bag of grit on hand. While I live in a very rocky area, my ground is frozen solid from November through mid April. So, my flock really appreciate a dish of grit in the winter.

I would caution you regarding that feed that you are still using. It is now 4 months old. A poultry nutrition expert in the flock management book written by Harvey Ussery cautions that feed 6 weeks beyond it's mill date is loosing nutrients, and on it's way to becoming rancid.

Thank you for the reply and suggestions! I will likely supplement here soon; better to be on the safe side! As to the food, it is not actually that old, as I did not get the birds as newly-hatched chicks. They've been with me about 5-6 weeks now, and the bag will be done when I next fill the feeder. But again, good to know and I appreciate it!

 

[gailbelanger]

So I just gave my 1 week old chicks some sand for some Grit.
They went ballistic!
It was pure mayhem!
Then I got to wondering if they would fill up on sand and not eat.
Is that a possibility?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Then I got to wondering if they would fill up on sand and not eat.
Is that a possibility?

Yes. So I would limit how much of it they can eat, until they learn to regulate themselves better.