Grit Question

[torilovessmiles]

This is my first full year owning chickens, and I've been free ranging them since I got them. Our soil is extremely rocky (seriously it seems we can only grow corn and potatoes. sometimes.), so they get plenty of grit as they peck around. Well, they'll have to be locked up in the coop for much of winter. I know they need grit to digest their food. I know what it does, and kind of how it works. I'm not sure what to get for them. I've heard several different things while browsing the forum (crushed granite, oyster shell, etc.) and I want to make sure I'm getting the right thing, and the right brand. Or how, and how much, to give to them. My chickens have become my pets, so I would be really sad if I lost one this winter due to my ignorance.
Any other winter feeding tips are greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

[pdirt]

Oyster shell is not grit. It's for additional calcium for laying hens. It's too soft to function as grit.

Grit is commonly crushed granite, because it is rather hard, but any hard crushed rock will do. If you have a rock quarry nearby, perhaps they have a pile of just what you need. Or most feed stores should carry it. Just give them some in a free choice container. When it's empty, fill it up.

 

[torilovessmiles]

Oyster shell is not grit. It's for additional calcium for laying hens. It's too soft to function as grit.

Grit is commonly crushed granite, because it is rather hard, but any hard crushed rock will do. If you have a rock quarry nearby, perhaps they have a pile of just what you need. Or most feed stores should carry it. Just give them some in a free choice container. When it's empty, fill it up.

I knew oyster shell was for calcium from what people said but I wasn't sure if it had other uses as well. Thanks a lot!

 

[pdirt]

Quote:
It's always good to ask questions! BYC is great for this, so many helpful people. Do know that there are a number of myths floating around on the net and BYC. Totally caged (no free-range access) birds given oyster shell as "grit" is a common one. And sometimes people call oyster shell "grit" but don't mean that because they actually do give real grit to their birds. Point being, sometimes it takes a while to read between the lines as to what folks are saying and what they actually mean. There's a whole vocabulary of words I had to learn when we got chickens...crop, vent, scratch, run, roost, etc. And then there's all the different feeds (layer, grower, broiler, starter, etc)...those had me confused for a good while!

Happy chicken-ing to you...