Grit at what age?

[fairytails]

I have some 9 week old pullets that I got about 2 weeks ago. Have been feeding them the grower crumbles, but I didn't see grit for sale at my local large feed/discount store. Is it easy to find grit for sale?

When do I need to buy and give them grit to eat? I did buy a 50 pound bag of the calcium alternative to oyster shells. That stuff is so dense, a 50 pound bag is puny but hard to lift.
Then it seemed reading here, they do not need the calcium supplement until about 18 weeks old, so held off on providing that.

I want my girls to get enough grit. I tried reading the other threads on it and still need help with the whole grit thing! How do I keep their gizzards healthy? They are out in the yard for 1-3 hours at a time in a confined area, mainly they dug a couple small h0les to sit in! The ground is straight soft dirt, no gravel here.

 

[fried green eggs]

Ask where you buy your feed, they should have grit and if not - You can get mason/course sand at Lowe's and put it in a pile in their run. It has small stones,gravel that they can use as grit. Don't give added calcium until you see the first egg or their combs start getting red and swollen - sign they will start laying soon.

 

[NSDWS]

Tractor Supply sells both chick and adult grit. I guess the only diff is the size of the grit.

 

[ellandeeranch]

On a similar note, are 4-5week chicks to young to be out in the coop this time of year? We've had ours out for 2 days with no problem. The temp at night hasn't dropped below 71, and it gets over 100 in the day (measured digitally inside the shady part of coop). I put some ice in their water dish for cooling.

The tractor they're in is sitting on desert dirt. I have a wood floor/shavings on half of the tractor, but the chicks also have access to the desert sands. They seem to be thriving, scratching, and picking at the dirt, although most of the time, they're on the shavings/floor.

Sound OK?

 

[fried green eggs]

Sorry Didn't see this. Yes it sounds like the night temps are OK. They will huddle up and stay warm enough as long as they can get out of draft. If temps are going to go down into sixties you might put a heat light on a timer for them for a few weeks till they feather out completely.

 

[fairytails]

Thank you very much! I will just ask for grit or find a local source of course sand.

 

[Fred's Hens]

If your birds have free range opportunities, they'll pick up all the grit they need, normally, just from gravel, pebbles and sand they find in the yard and fields. Chickens fed 100% of their diet of Crumbles, don't need grit as the Crumble feed is already ground to mush. Grit helps them if you feed whole grains and scraps.

 

[fairytails]

I found the grit this trip to the store. The problem was that it was a brand newly opened Fleet Farm. They had not gotten all their items stocked and in supply yet on the first visit. Grit is not very expensive, and $5-6 for a small bag.
Interestingly, then I saw from the sunday paper that our state's and Wisconsin's sand is in extremely high demand! It is apparently the ideal consistency for oil fracking going on in Canada and elsewhere, and so they are shipping our sand out of state like crazy . Now if I could only find where our sand is and not the soft dirt, no more need to buy grit!

 

[dl9976]

if you let them out to free range they will find their own grit...otherwise you can buy it at the farm supply store...in the meantime you can give them sand if you dont free range.