free range not eating grit

[duckidaho]

My free ranging chickens are not eating the grit I put out for them. Are they just getting enough around the yard? They seem happy and healthy.

 

[Mahonri]

must be OK... do you ever mix a tiny bit of grit with their feed?

I have free choice oyster shell for my layers, but I still mix a tiny bit into their feed.

 

[jhm47]

This "grit myth" continues. Billions of chickens are raised without ever seeing a bit of grit. If you feed crumbles, or your feed is processed into smaller pieces of grain, then you do not need grit. If you are feeding really hard, dry, whole seeds of some type of grain, then you MIGHT need some grit. Oyster shells are not the same as grit. Oyster shells provide needed calcium to hens when they are laying, and do little to "grind" seeds while in the gizzard. Actually, a good quality laying mash should provide plenty of calcium to the hens, and the oyster shells should not be needed either.

 

[rainbowgardens]

I never feed grit to my free-ranging birds, they get what they need in the yard.
I do feed grit to my chicks when I begin throwing in greens from the yard. When they are able to free-range, I stop.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Mine never eat grit when they are free ranging either. They do eat it in the winter though when the "big chickens" stay in their coop ALL winter becasue they are afraid of snow!

 

[elmo]

How can you be sure? Unless you watch them like a hawk (heh, sorry) all day, they very well might be picking up the few grains of grit they need. You wouldn't be able to notice any missing from the cup, though.

And as others have mentioned, free ranging birds have access to grit in the form of small stones they pick up from the dirt as they forage.

 

[citrusdreams]

Quote:
You can get an idea of how much grit or oyster shell they're eating by screwing the bowls to the wall of the henhouse, about chest level to the chickens. They make a feeder that is a double feeder, it probably holds about a quart each side. If you put it in the henhouse, you can watch it better. For me, the grit side stayed full after I started free ranging, and I haven't bought anymore since. They do help themselves to some oyster shells once in a while, but not much at all. I'd say about a cup a year for all of them. They really get a lot outside when you free range them.

 

[gocrow77]

They are most likely picking up little bits in your yard. Mine peck at rocks and tiny pebbles all the time. I do still provide some grit in the coop - but they are not really interested anymore since they bagan free ranging, they get to pick their own out in the yard now.

 

[cw]

i had free range guineas and they wouldnt eat grit, so when i cleaned them to eat um, u would believe all the broken glass and gravel they had, so i would believe yours are fine