Grit or no grit?

[Hiedi]

Quote:
Thanks for your input.

 

[chickenannie]

I always give my chicks grit after they are a few days old because I find them eating all sorts of stuff that needs grit to digest (clover leafs, pieces of dried grass, bugs, hay seeds etc). Rather than pay for grit, I just get a scoop of sand from the sandbox and some tiny pebbles from the creekbed or the dirtpile and it works fine. Sometimes they gobble that grit down! My friend had half his turkeys die before they were 4 weeks until someone told him they needed grit (he hadn't given them any). Now he always feeds his chicks grit and doesn't have a problem.

 

[ChixFlix]

Glad to have found this thread.

So let me get this straight:

If my almost 14 week old hens are outside the coop, eating a lot of Florida sand along with bits of grass, bugs, frogs, lizards as well as starter feed and some scratch grains, they DO NOT need additional grit because the sand (we don't have real "soil" just a lot of sand here in south Florida) does the trick.

Yes or no?

My experience has been so far, so good without grit but like the originator of this thread, I just want to be sure!

Your comments are appreciated!

 

[dacjohns]

I'm far from being an expert but I'm of the opinion that if the birds are outside eating dirt, that is pecking at the real ground not a concrete floor, then they are getting grit and don't need a supplement.

 

[chickenannie]

Chixflix, the grit has to be size appropriate -- so I use sand and tiny pebbles when the chicks are small. But as they get larger, they need larger grit than sand. So if they can peck at small stones outside your coop, that is fine. If it's just sand, I would make sure to give them a supply of larger stones or pebbles for grit. (my free-range birds eat small stones out of our gravel drive as well as eating stones in the soil when they dust bathe in the dirt!) Watch yours when they dust bathe -- and see if they're eating stones. That is typically their preferred time to get grit.

 

[MaryT]

We also salt the chick starter after a few days with chick grit, the same stuff someone added the picture of. We haven't had any problems with it...

 

[ChixFlix]

Well, there MAY be small stones in all the sand, but I have not particularly noticed any.

I think I'll play it safe and get some grit for them.

Can't hurt, right?

Thank you all for your responses.

 

[banter]

Grit basically is not digested. They will get some on there own if put outside. If kept inside and you give them a varied diet, you can give the cage bird grit-they only need a tiny amount. Maybe a teaspoon full or less for a bunch of chicks. Do not free feed it.