Grit, Grass, and Bugs for young poults

[AlbionWood]

More questions about feeding my little peepers.

Grit: What size is best for young poults, and when should I start adding it to the feed? I have sandy soil; can I just scoop up some coarse dirt and let them pick through that?

Grass: I have some clover and orchard-mix growing here; when can I start giving that to the poults?

Bugs: Can I let them have insects collected from the garden (earwigs, sowbugs, etc.), or is there a risk of disease?

 

[Lotsapaints]

I start adding grit when they are a week old I get mine out of the wash coarse gritty sand and it's clean....I would worry about dirt as they're not supposed to go out on because they have no immunity it's easy to buy sand or grit at stores that carry pet supplies-Walmart, kmart, rite aid even the grocery store. As for treats I buy canary seed or finch seed without rape seed and sprinkle that on top of their food with the grit they mob me for it and since I get free bread I give them tiny pieces of that they run around try to hide in the corners to eat it and play keep away very funny but only just a slice between 9 birds...

 

[pdpatch]

Wild game starter feed has grit in it which is normally enough grit until the get switched to a grower ration. If you can't get wild game starter the grit is about the size of sand for them. As Lotsapaints said supplement there food with seeds.


Normally you want to wait for 8 to 9 weeks or so before exposing them to anything from the out doors, that includes clover and grasses. It takes that long for there immunity to get to full levels. Yes you can put expose them sooner but the odds of the getting sick are higher. Although we try to stick to the rules sometimes we start them on grass sooner pulling clumps and bringing it to them. We also start with the dried bread at about 4 to 5 weeks.

 

[AlbionWood]

OK, I've just started sprinkling some sharp sand over their crumbles (Flock Raiser +Soybean meal). I can hold off the clover for a while. Still not sure about the bugs, but I'll wait on them too. Thanks for the advice!