Eating Childrens Play Sand.

[safari_dave_2008]

My chick is eating the childrens play sand we put in his box for dust bathing. Will this do him any harm?

No dust bathing, just eating.

 

[chickflick]

How old are they? Have to be careful that they don't eat too much....could block their crop. Seem to remember someone on this site that her chicken ate so much, the vet had to operate on the chicken to get it all out. I would remove the sand for now, until they are older.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

No, I don't think it will harm him. Since it is a chick (i'm guessing no more than a week old) it is eating the sand for grit. The chick needs something to help grind up all that feed

 

[safari_dave_2008]

I gues he may not be a chick any more. Habit calling him a chick. He (she) is eight weeks old tomorrow. Is that still a chick?

 

[Akane]

I've been giving mine sand from the horse arena for grit since they were less than a week old. They were catching bugs in their brooder by then. It's pretty much the same thing as playsand. However I didn't give them very much until they learned what was food and what wasn't. By 8weeks though they should know the difference and it shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't worry unless he seems obsessed over it and doesn't appear to be eating anything else and then I'd just pull it out for a few hours, put it back for a few hours, and so on until he gets the idea he can't eat just sand.

 

[safari_dave_2008]

Well its the first time he has had it in with him. He doesn't over endulge himself as he as stopped now. He has eaten some food and settled on his straw.

An over concered first time chicken keeper and he (she) is are only one. Hand reared from hatching so you can probably forgive our worrying.

I will leave the sand in while we are with him and remove it before bed.

Thank you.

I will monitor this thread in case anyone has any other stories of grit munching chicks that could be of interest.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

8 wks old

a youngster chick but not quite to that teenager stage yet. Mine kept eating out of a wide flower pot of playsand that we had set out to mix with our potting soil. I just started putting a handful of chick grit on top of the sand and they ate that and left the sand alone. I had been putting the grit on their food but they kept going back into that flower pot sooooo now the flower pot has become the chickens "grit pot"

 

[ChickyBabe]

Quote:
he's using it as grit

and it will not harm him