Do I start my chicks on grit right away...

[doberman44]

Hi I'm Dobe....I have six 2 week old chicks....do I need to supplement them with grit now or wait until they are older....if so is the parakeet kind w/calcium appropriate??....also one of my chicks has sporadic diarreah....dark brown... is this something to be concerned about?? Otherwise, all seem healthy and are acting normally....thanks

 

[Nostalchic]

If you are just feeding chick crumbles, they don't really need grit, but if you want to start giving them treats (way fun), such as grapes or veggies or - yum!- worms or crickets, you should give them grit. You can buy chick grit, which is just a very coarse sand, but it's a little hard to find (My Pet Chicken has it). Parakeet grit is also ok. Have fun!
Oh, yeah, the poop question. Poop varies, and a chicken will have varying kinds of poop depending on what she's excreting at the moment, from loose browny liquidy stuff, to almost formed with some white. There's a thread on here somewhere with a link to a good photographic explanation of the types of normal poop, if you search you might be able to find it. If it's just one chick with consistently runny poo, that could be a different issue... I personally wouldn't be too concerned unless the chick were not eating, drinking, active and otherwise apparently healthy.

 

[FrizzlesRule]

I give them baby chick size grit starting about two weeks of age and I also give it to my adult bantams. I have never had any problem finding at the feed stores I go to.

 

[RocketDad]

Too much calcium can cause growth problems in chicks. Don't use 'keet grit.

I used sand when I started introducing treats. "Tube" or traction sand is great, because it's very irregular in size and texture. "Play" sand is too small and smooth, and sifted to be more-or-less the same size.

 

[elmo]

The famous poop page:

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

 

[doberman44]

thanks for all the answers...very helpful!!