Grit for chicks... what else can I use?

[chellebyerly]

I cant get play sand around here. Its not in yet??

I have some little over a week old chicks, and wanted to give them some grit before I find anything else in their cage courtesey of my 4 heathens.

They are in the living room, doing fine. I have had them 3 days, they came into the feedstore about 5 days before that.

But I would like to get some grit down them.

I have playsand. and parakeet grit and gravel (which I read was bad...) BUT its in my fishtanks.. I aint givin the chicks fish tank sand. LOL

anyway, Can I go outside and get some dirt and bring it in for them? I know about pestasides and such, BUT, there is NOTHING on my hill. We are the first people to inhabit it since it came into the family in 1843. And I havent ever tried to grow grass or anything.

There is no runoff from elsewhere, as we are the highest point for miles.

oh and can they have baby food? I have some gerber banana, and some gerber banana/strawberry/apple, that my kid didnt eat and if they can have it I'll gladly get it out of my cabinet.

 

[Katy]

I've used parakeet grit when I didn't have chick grit on hand. The feed stores around here carry chick grit.

 

[Omran]

Tractor supply has chicks grit too.

 

[Akane]

I reuse sand out of my fish tanks. It washes well. Don't you have a large hardware store in the area? Menards here always carries handy sand or some version of it which is a very fine quartz based sand. I use it for fish tanks, plants (makes a good cactus mix), grit for chicks and button quail, horse stalls, round pen... It's nearly as cheap as playsand but much cleaner without random pebbles. No feed store around here has chick sized grit. I had trouble finding grit small enough for japanese bantams.

 

[chellebyerly]

okay, thanks. but I wont be going back to town for a week. LOL Thats another reason why I asked about the dirt.
I dont want to buy 40lbs of playsand, and its not on the shelves yet anyway.

and I go to town as sparengly as possible.
I guess I could just put them in the coop during the day and let them find thier own grit.

 

[chellebyerly]

Quote:
I didnt even think about washing the sand. LOL Thanks!

and I am pretty sure none of my feedstores carry grit, like yours.

Lowes is all we have, and they have play sand as a seasonal item. Its too early for it. But, if I get a 40lb bag, and then have 39 7/8 lbs left, I will only be able to find one use for it. Buy a new fish tank. Then I have to buy fish, and decorate it, and ...... LOL

 

[Akane]

Fish tank sand washes easy. Usually you are suppose to wash before putting it in the tank. Just put it in a small bucket or large tray, fill with water, swish the sand around, and dump the dirty water off the top leaving the heavier sand to sink. I just washed 50lbs from one of my large planted tanks I took down. I never clean the bottom of those tanks. They are set up to be all natural with snails to stir it and the fish waste just becomes food for the plants. The sand is about half organic matter by the time I take one down. A day later I have a 5g bucket of perfectly clean white sand again.

Don't ask for play sand in the winter. Either ask for traction sand (it's play sand in tube bags) or ask for where the blasting sand is and then look next to the blasting sand. Often there will be handy sand or something similar. You can try asking for handy sand but they don't always sell that exact brand. It's just the most common brand of that type of sand that people recognize. You'll pretty much only get sand in 40-50lb bags. I used the extra from my last bag to make sand baths for my chickens and keep the mud down in front of the coop door. Extremely useful stuff.

 

[chellebyerly]

thats why I LOVE sand. LOL I never clean the bottoms of the tanks! LOL

I reckon I will have to get it out of the crawfish's tank- I hate to 'cause he loves to attack. LOL But the 30 gal has so much moss in it and grass that I cant find a bare spot. LOL
You want some GREAT growing moss? this stuff is amazing! LOL It has taken over my small tank cause I hate to throw it away. But have nowhere else to put it. LOL

Thanks for the tips on where to find it when its not 'the season' Next time I need some for a tank I will check it out. We are actually on a sand hill, so I dont need it outside. I have often wondered if I could just use that sand for my tanks. LOL but I fiqure it wouldnt pack as well. and take more to clean it.

Thanks again for the advice, I am now going to steal some sand from the mean crawfish, give him some moss to tear up, and maybe redecorate a tank.. Its been a while and they need it.