Grit for Chicks?

[Latigo]

Hi All,
New here. I've raised Cattle and Horses, but this is my first time with Chickens. We have 6 four week old RIR. They are still on Starter. When do they start needing Grit and how do we offer it?

 

[KattyKillFish]

welcome to the world of chickens! it gets crazier from here on out.

you dont need to give them grit until you start giving them anything other than starter, treats etc.

you give them free choice of grit once you start giving it, just put it in a little dish and let them have at it! other people like to sprinkle it on their feed like salt, some mix it at a ratio of 1-10/grit-feed. i personally prefer to give them free choice.

from Dillingham, Alaska! hope i've been of some help

 

[Judy]

Grit is offered free choice. They need it when they start to forage for their own food, grasses and bugs and such, or when you start offering treats other than something easy to digest like mashed hard boiled egg or yogurt. If your soil is sandy or has small bits of rock available, they may not need any, they may find their own. Grit is just crushed granite. If you give grit while they are quite young, be sure it is for chicks rather than full grown birds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I put grit (actually sand I had left over from mixing concrete) in a small cup attached to the side of their brooder on the 3rd day I had them. So mine got it free choice from day 3. Some people sprinkle it on their food. Others just let them get what they need from the run if the ground is sandy or has small rocks.

The only hard and fast rules I know of are that they do not need grit if all they eat is starter and that they do need grit if they eat anything else. I personally like to give them grit quite early as I don't know when a bug might wander into their area, but many people successfully raise chicks without giving them grit until they can get it for themselves outside.

 

[KattyKillFish]

regular sand can also work fine as chick grit, but i gather crushed granite works better. i personally use regular sand. they like to bathe in it, too!

 

[cmom]

Whenever I give my chicks anything other than their Starter crumbles I put out a dish of free choice chick grit that I get at my local TSC. Longest lasting grit is Granite, that lasts well. All other rock and stone is so much softer, that it wears down fast and that is why granite grit is best choice, works really well for best utilization of feeds. My baby chicks are given free choice and they choose it with pleasure, baby/ckick grit is fine Granite, as soon as they are given anything besides Starter Crumbles. Their tiny gizzards are at optimum function at an early age. I have a dish of free choice grit next to my feeders so the birds always have access to it and they take what they want.