Grit is Unavailable ATM

[soospickle]

Hi Everyone!
I cannot get chick grit where I live and the farm supply store doesn't know when their supply of regular/adult grit will arrive. My chicks are 6 weeks now and I would like to start letting them out in the grass during the day. Is there an alternative I could use in the interim? I do have access to oyster, but I have been reading it's not really the same and should be given only when about to lay.

Thank you!

 

[Tonyroo]

Does your yard have dirt patch? Dirt contains various sizes of grit. Chickens find the size they need in the dirt.

Also I never buy store grit. At 2 to 3 weeks my chicks has access to my yard which is all dirt.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If your soil doesn't have a lot of small rocks in it (mine doesn't) then a few handfuls of mixed size gravel should likely have enough small pieces to suit as grit. You can sift them out with a colander or just spread it out on the ground and let the birds have access.

What you are looking for are these sorts of sizes:

At 6 weeks your birds are just about in between chick & grower grit.

 

[Weeg]

Do they have grower grit? I used grower grit for my youngsters and it seems to do the trick. Otherwise, I agree with giving a scoop of rocky/gravely soil/sand.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Sand. I have very Sandy soil, never really need chick grit. They'll be totally fine out in the grass with no grit. It's not really free-ranging they need supplemental grit for, it's feed.

 

[Brooks_]

Not all soils will provide appropriate grit. I just looked and amazon has some in stock.

 

[Brooks_]

I watch my 9 week old Australorps (already large birds) peck around our very dry yard for a little bit each day and they seem to be good at picking up the size they need and dropping the stuff that's too big. They also have "construction sand" in their run that they pick at.

Do I still need to give them any grit?

Maybe. The construction sand will do them little to no good, but what they find in the yard might be all they need. Grit is cheap enough for me that I leave it out for them regardless of what they find on their own. Oyster shell as well - my environment is high in calcium, but when something is cheap and doesn't go bad - I'll keep it on hand.

 

[soospickle]

Does your yard have dirt patch? Dirt contains various sizes of grit. Chickens find the size they need in the dirt.

Also I never buy store grit. At 2 to 3 weeks my chicks has access to my yard which is all dirt.

I can very easily make a dirt patch for them, I have some soil from digging up my garden. Thank you!

 

[soospickle]

Do they have grower grit? I used grower grit for my youngsters and it seems to do the trick. Otherwise, I agree with giving a scoop of rocky/gravely soil/sand.

They have nothing available at the moment, they are waiting for their order from the mill. I will definitely try giving them some dirt to scratch around in! Thank you

 

[Battlepants]

TBH, they don't really need grit at all if you are giving them crumbles. But yea, as others have said, an easy free source of grit is to just let them get their claws into the dirt in your yard - either by taking a fieldtrip to the yard or by shoveling a pile into the brooder.

For my most recent batch of chicks, I've provided absolutely no grit and they are doing just fine. Crumble food and the broody momma took them outside to scratch at around 2 weeks.