Grit vs no grit

[Kuntry Klucker]

Chicks do not need grit. They should be eating a quality chick feed developed and formulated esclusively for chicks. At this young age all that they need will be in their feed. Treats should not be fed to them for the first few months. Treats dilute the chick feed that they need to be eating to grow properly. Chicks do not have many taste buds I think that they might have 10 or so. So treats at this age do very little good.

Once they are older and are outside if you free range they will find things here and there in the ground. If you use sand as a bedding in your pen they will use that for grit. If you are still worried at that point you can get some grit and put in a dish in their pen for them to have access too. But for the first 3 months or so of life they need to be fed only their chick starter feed. That has all that they need including the right ration of grit to digest their feed. They less you supplement at this young age generally the better.

 

[Blooie]

But.....but...Mom doesn't do it that way!

 

[Folly's place]

Mine are eating other stuff way before three months of age, in very small quantities. My broody raised chicks are out there with mama eating all sorts of things by the time they are ten days old, in addition to their Flock Raiser.
Mary

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Not to mention pecking at bits of bedding and anything else they can manage to get in their mouths...

 

[Frazzemrat1]

I used parakeet grit after the first week. Usually by that time I started giving them things besides the chick crumble. I'd offer it on the side.

Make sure you get a good insoluble granite grit, and not confuse it with soluble grit which is usually oyster shell... which is used to help the chicken body create egg shells. They don't need that extra calcium until they're in their 20 weeks range when they start laying.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Doesn't the parakeet grit have calcium in it? The stuff I usually see does.

 

[eatbeef14]

I personally don't use grit because we have many pebbles and rocks in our yard.

 

[RodNTN]

I always keep a bag of grit available, as young chicks I don't give it to them ASAP. Since they are only eating starter. I usually start giving it to them at 2-3 weeks. Because by then I am offering grass, treats, etc.

I never have to give it to my adult flock, since they forage dusk till dawn on 20+ acres. And they have numerous places where they have access to natural grit.
I do give it to them when they have been locked up in the coop for any reason, though.

Even if you don't feel the need to give it to a free ranging flock, always just keep some on hand. As some members have said, it's better to be safe than sorry

 

[lazy gardener]

Doesn't the parakeet grit have calcium in it? The stuff I usually see does.

The parakeet grit I am familiar with DOES have calcium in it. Whether it's enough to be problematic, I have no idea.

But.....but...Mom doesn't do it that way!

Exactly. Mama broody takes her chicks out of the nest by the time they are 48 hours old. They are out in the yard, scratching and digging right along side her. Their first treats? A bit of chicken poo, some soil, and what ever else Mama feeds them, including chick starter, grit, grasses, and bugs. Birds are created with a gizzard. That gizzard is a thickly lined muscular organ that is designed to hold some grit to pulvarize what ever they eat. If birds don't have access to grit, they will seek something to put in that gizzard. Plenty of posts every spring by folks who complain that their chicks are eating the shavings. Give them the grit their bodies crave, and they won't be as apt to try to meet the "grit needs" by eating shavings.

Mine are eating other stuff way before three months of age, in very small quantities. My broody raised chicks are out there with mama eating all sorts of things by the time they are ten days old, in addition to their Flock Raiser.
Mary

 

[rkapfen]

Just a thought.. could I use larger adult grit and grind it up to make it a bit smaller?