Do I need grit?

[musikfan6]

I want to feed my hens our scraps from the table - apple peels, vegetables, leftover pieces of whatever we might have had for dinner, but no junk food. When exactly do I need to feed them grit? They are eating the starter/grower feed which I know is soft enough that they don't need grit with it, but I would like to supplement with other food.

What is the guideline for which foods require grit?

Thanks everyone.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

I personally feel that all chickens need grit unless they are strictly on a processed feed. They have no other way of breaking down the food but to have little pebbles in their gizzard to grind it up.

 

[musikfan6]

So if I give them grit (which I have not yet done...), do you just give them a limited amount in a separate feeder each day, or only every so many days. I read somewhere that they'll gobble it up like crazy and could eat too much of it. Is this true?

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

I offer my girls (year olds) free choice on grit and have found that they only eat it when they need it. I do limit my chicks though because they will gobble it up and not eat the feed. You can go out and find little rocks for them. If they are too bit...take a hammer to them to break them into smaller pieces. How old are your hens?

 

[musikfan6]

I offer my girls (year olds) free choice on grit and have found that they only eat it when they need it. I do limit my chicks though because they will gobble it up and not eat the feed. You can go out and find little rocks for them. If they are too bit...take a hammer to them to break them into smaller pieces. How old are your hens?

Mine are 7 weeks. They have been eating the Agway chick starter/grower, and they also have a small fenced in grassy area outside the coop (which is about 12 feet by 12 feet) where they can peck at the ground.

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

I do not give any of my birds, no matter what age, any grit. They all have ground access so they can peck up grains of sand or natural grit as they see fit. I'm off the opinion that the crushed oystershell grit is something that is unnecessary in a backyard flock. It's marketed pretty heavily in poultry magazines and some people swear by it, but I say the money you'd spend on it is better used to make moveable pens or some other means of accessing the ground.

 

[musikfan6]

I do not give any of my birds, no matter what age, any grit. They all have ground access so they can peck up grains of sand or natural grit as they see fit. I'm off the opinion that the crushed oystershell grit is something that is unnecessary in a backyard flock. It's marketed pretty heavily in poultry magazines and some people swear by it, but I say the money you'd spend on it is better used to make moveable pens or some other means of accessing the ground.

So for 8 hens, if I have a grassy enclosed area which measures 16' by 16', will that be enough for them to get natural grit? I'm hearing so many different opinions.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

I do not give any of my birds, no matter what age, any grit. They all have ground access so they can peck up grains of sand or natural grit as they see fit. I'm off the opinion that the crushed oystershell grit is something that is unnecessary in a backyard flock. It's marketed pretty heavily in poultry magazines and some people swear by it, but I say the money you'd spend on it is better used to make moveable pens or some other means of accessing the ground.

 

Agree, if they free range they get their own but when I refer to grit I'm not referring to the grit you buy in the store. I do offer oyster shell because of the calcium. If the girls want it they have it, if not no big deal. I get my grit from a pile of really small crushed rocks.