grit too big?

[nipper75]

just bought grit from store and it's the size of grape nuts cereal.. too big for 5 day old chicks?

 

[montanasandy]

Yes. We ground that up (lots of work) until we found the "chick grit". Also heard others say they give them play sand.

 

[mconro]

Yep, too big. A lot of feed stores carry "baby grit" that is MUCH smaller. Best of luck!

 

[ChickLit]

If you can't get to the feed store, parakeet grit works great also...it's very fine. You can find it in the pet section of Walmart, grocery stores, etc. My little ones love it...and I was just able to get a bag of play sand today, so they'll be starting on that soon.

 

[Steergirl]

TSC sells Chick Grit but someone else's suggestion about pet bird grit is a good one.

 

[BarefootMom]

why even give grit to young chicks? I didn't think they needed it? I was always told that the chick starter has everything that a chick needs.

I have never given any grit to any of our chickens ever. Our chickens free range.

 

[wayneh]

Quote:
you can give your chicks sand, do not give them the play sand. they sand you need is building sand or construction sand. You can just go down to the creek and get some of that. the play sand is sifted and does not contain irregular sizes and will compact. hopes this helps.

 

[ColoredEggHome]

I was looking into chick grit or play sand for mine. I heard that most play sand has silica in it and wasn't good for chicks. I saw the parakeet grit at Wal-mart the other day and thought about picking it up but didn't. They need grit to digest bugs right?

 

[ragerkid2]

I bought 9 chicks the other day. They said I don't need grit but I give them treats and I read online that if they get food bigger than there feed to give them grit. So I went to my local TSC and the employe had no idea what he was talking about. He said there was no such thing as chick grit... It was right in front of him. On the bag it says not to feed to a chick under 2 weeks so I got 3 more days until I am going to introduce it to them.

 

[nipper75]

i have parakeet grit but it has oyster shell in it... don't need oyster yet.