Do Not Use Crushed Granite!!!

[nuthatched]

Uh-oh. I tried giving grit to my 3 day old chicks in a separate container yesterday and they didn't stop eating it so I took it out after 20 minutes or so.

This morning I put a sprinkle (a couple pinches) of grit on top of their feeder after refilling it. I was changing from paper towel to wood shavings this morning and wanted them to have some grit in case they ate bits of wood. Do you think a sprinkle like that is enough to hurt them?

No, but they won't need it for awhile

 

[InvertGang]

No, but they won't need it for awhile

I read that it's good to put some grass and dirt from outside into the brooder to get them exposure to the microbes and stuff early. They're on medicated feed and we don't want their first exposure to be when they switch to adult feed and go outside. I wanted to introduce grit so that in a couple of days we can put the grass and dirt in.

It's all very overwhelming

 

[K0k0shka]

Yeah I took the grit out and gave them some wet crumble instead and they went bonkers, haha.

My current flock ranges in ages up to 5 years, and they all love wet crumble! They love it so much that I mix a small batch for them every day as a treat.

I put a handful of shavings in the corner yesterday and they pecked at it a bit but they didn't seem to be eating it, which is why I switched to shavings today. The instructions from the hatchery said to use shavings from day 1 but we wanted to see how they responded before we used them.

They are less likely to mistake shavings for food, because the flakes are so big and awkward and hard to eat. Grit, on the other hand, has small particles that resemble the crumble particles a little too much, so it's easier for the chicks to mistake that for food. So covering up the shavings isn't so much to stop the chicks from eating too much from them, as they likely won't, but rather to prevent any eating as much as possible because eating any would probably require grit to grind down properly, and grit is what they do gorge on in the early days.

They're on medicated feed and we don't want their first exposure to be when they switch to adult feed and go outside.

Make sure to keep them on medicated feed for several weeks after they go outside, don't switch them to a non-medicated feed right away. The medication in the feed works by weakening the cocci bacteria so it can't sicken the chicken, and thus helping the immune system learn how to fight it without real danger to the chicken (because it's fighting a weakened enemy). So in order for the medication to help the chicken at all, the chicken needs to be exposed to the bacteria, a.k.a. needs to be outside. And it needs a few weeks for the immune system to learn how to fight it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This morning I put a sprinkle (a couple pinches) of grit on top of their feeder after refilling it. I was changing from paper towel to wood shavings this morning and wanted them to have some grit in case they ate bits of wood. Do you think a sprinkle like that is enough to hurt them?

No a sprinkle won't hurt them. It's on top of the first bowl of feed I offer chicks when they come home.

That said they don't need a lot of it. A pinch a couple times a week should be more than enough until they're around 8 weeks old and ready for larger grit.

I read that it's good to put some grass and dirt from outside into the brooder to get them exposure to the microbes and stuff early. They're on medicated feed and we don't want their first exposure to be when they switch to adult feed and go outside. I wanted to introduce grit so that in a couple of days we can put the grass and dirt in.

You'll get differing opinions on this but many people who do early exposure do NOT use medicated feed because we want them to get coccidia in their system gradually (through ingestion and exposure) and have their bodies learn to deal with it, rather than have the anticoccidiostat kill it off.

 

[ChookaPete]

I just wanted to warn you all about crushed granite. I used to give my trio crushed granite on the side. Not I'm paying the price for it. One of my pullets is fighting for her life. Shes at the vet bleeding internally from the intestines because of the granite. I don't want any of you going through what I am right now.

I am sorry that your pullet is very sick and possibly on the verge of dying.


But "crushed granite" is essentially just sand. Or to put it another way, sand is naturally eroded granite.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I am sorry that your pullet is very sick and possibly on the verge of dying.


But "crushed granite" is essentially just sand. Or to put it another way, sand is naturally eroded granite.

The original post is from 2008

 

[Ridgerunner]

There it is! Whew.
View attachment 4089424

They don't say what kind of grit or what it is made from.

Several years back when the question about grit being in chicken feed I called Purina and asked them if they had any grit in their feed. No they don't. But their feed is ground up during manufacture so the chickens don't need grit to eat it. Besides, trying to put grit in their manufacturing process just would not work.

I'm not familiar with Kalmbach feeds. With that ingredients list you'd think they would be pre-ground but I just don't know. In some countries a calcium supplement like oyster shell is called soluble grit while granite or grit used to grind food in the gizzard is called insoluble grit.

It would be interesting to know what they are calling "grit".