Grit and calcium?

[Jrobinsonmtplus3]

My flock is coming up on 11 weeks old and I just ran out of chick grit. I'm hoping it's ok to give them larger grit now?
They have a small run and they range freely a few times a week for a few hours total.
Also- should I seperated the crushed oyster shells from the grit or can I mix?

 

[BYCforlife]

You hardly need grit if they have access to the outdoors. I think it's okay to give them bigger stuff, if it is too big they wn't eat it. Mixing should be fine since they'll pick out what they need.

 

[oceansunset73]

You can mix up both the Chick grit and the regular sized grit together. They can pick out what they want.

As far as the oyster shells, unless they are starting to lay already, you might not need to give them this just yet.

 

[Dayrel]

I'd still offer the adult grit. If they get enough from their limited free ranging, they simply won't bother with yours. Mine are in a similar situation and they do consume both grit and calcium, but I agree that you don't need to bother with calcium until they start laying.

 

[lazy gardener]

Whether your birds get enough grit from your yard is dependent on the type of soil you have. Is it sandy silt? Do you have many rocks? Are they hard rocks or are they more like soft shale? If they don't have access to bare ground with a good supply of hard rocks of grit size on a regular basis, you might want to provide grit. My garden produces a copious crop of rocks every year, and a lot of those rocks are granite. No problem with accessing natural grit here, but I keep a bag handy for the 5+ months/year when the ground is frozen solid.

 

[FlyWheel]

You hardly need grit if they have access to the outdoors. I think it's okay to give them bigger stuff, if it is too big they wn't eat it. Mixing should be fine since they'll pick out what they need.

That depends on the outdoors they're exposed to. If its all sandy or clay you might need to add grit to it. My chicken's run is all clay and decomposed oak leaves. In fact there isn't much of any 'grit' in my entire yard much larger than a sand grain. So I periodically pour a bag of granite poultry grit out for them to scratch and peck at.