Do I need chick grit if I add oats?

[Sunnymommy]

We have 8 white leghorn chickies we hatched that are 11-12 days old. A few of them have diarrhea / runny poos but seem happy. We have tried electrolytes and probiotics and acv. If I try adding a bit of oats to the starter chick feed do I also need to get chick grit? Thanks for your help.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes they need grit for oats.

 

[Sunnymommy]

Do I need grit if I give them yogurt/kefir or raw milk?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not familiar with kefir so I can't say for sure, but yogurt and raw milk do not require grit. They need grit for stuff you would use your teeth to chew up.

 

[centrarchid]

Do I need grit if I give them yogurt/kefir or raw milk?

When doing the dairy you might consider adding bismuth subsalicylate in addition to the grit. Birds consuming lactose have very interesting poos that are running and stinky.

 

[Eps32]

Chick grit is easy to get and I recommend you always keep at least a small bag on hand I always do but ya oats you need grit

 

[centrarchid]

Are we talking oat grain or processed oats as in oatmeal? Former will be a little tough for chicks less than three weeks old.

 

[centrarchid]

If you are already feeding the chicks the dairy products, then it is very likely that is the cause of the runny feces.

 

[Sunnymommy]

Oh interesting. We are new at all this. Maybe runny poos from dairy. That could be it I guess. We read it was good to give them that for the probiotics.

Not unprocessed oats. Was just thinking of blending up some of our thick oatmeal oats. Read that helps with diarrhea. But I don't have any grit at the moment, so I will hold off on that idea. We are slowly acquiring things as we need them.

Tonight we got them out of their large plastic tub and into a giant cardboard brooder we created with boxes and duct tape. They should be happier with so much more space

 

[Sunnymommy]

I posted a different thread asking about the difference between diarrhea and cecal poo. I am wondering now if that's what we are seeing rather than diarrhea. Either way, with so much more room and bedding hopefully they won't be running through it all the time and making such a mess in it. If a chick has poo on them (wing, back, etc) should we try to wash it off with a wet rag or just leave them be?