Grit vs Oyster Shell Question

[gailbelanger]

As noted above- Oyster shell and grit perform very different functions. Do not mix either with their food. The birds will be able to tell when they need either and mixing into their food forces it on them whether they need it or not.

Grit: Accumulates in the chicken gizzard and acts like teeth. The gizzard is just a muscular chamber that uses the grit to "chew" natural food (that is anything other than pellet feed which breaks down in water).
Chickens don't have teeth. Their beak can only grab or tear food. The food then accumulates in the crop (temporary storage) and then moves on to the gizzard for "chewing" before going to the stomach. Chickens naturally can pick up grit when free ranging, but if you have any concerns about them having sufficient access, then offering it on the side is cheap insurance for their health.

Oyster/egg shells: Provides supplementary calcium for laying hens. Much like you have a natural desire for salt (based on your body's need), chickens that need additional calcium will peck at the oyster/egg shell if needed. 4% is a minimum need for laying hens, but some will want/need more.
Also, please do not feed layer mix to non-layers (young pullets, old non-laying hens, roosters). Excess calcium can cause very painful conditions for them. If you have a mixed flock, then it is better to offer a regular feed and offer plenty of calcium on the side.

Thank you. I didn't realize chickens were that smart, my bad.

The babies get crumbles, and my hens are 7 months old and get layer pellets.

Unfortunately there are 6 roosters out of the 53 who are eating layer pellets also. I'm thinking of somehow separating them and feeding them meat chicken food, they are a a dual purpose breed.

I am re-homing a couple. I thought I'd like to keep one of each breed, RIR, Speckled Sussex, just in case I want to try my hand at hatching some. But all of them together are hurting my girls and I'm not happy with that and neither are they.

I did have one hen develop sour crop and even though she lived she'll never be the same. Her crop is way to big and in the morning she looks like she's trying to throw up a hairball, which kind of makes me worried. That's what started me on my quest to find out more about oyster shell and grit.

I do leave food out all day and pick it up at night. Someone told me they should have a full crop at night and an empty one in the morning and that would help with things like sour crop.

 

[3KillerBs]

I do leave food out all day and pick it up at night. Someone told me they should have a full crop at night and an empty one in the morning and that would help with things like sour crop.

A lot of people put up the feed at night to keep it from attracting rodents (an issue for some people and not others), but there's no need to pick it up to prevent them from eating. They naturally do not eat at night in the dark.

 

[TooCheep]

Thank you. I didn't realize chickens were that smart, my bad.

That's okay. Many of us start from absolute zero. You are obviously learning and trying to help your flock. A lot of new people (including me) are/were confused about the feeding setup. It isn't as simple as pellets and water.

 

[gtaus]

I have one of those zero turn lawn mowers. I'm going to see if they make something that will pick up the grass/weeds. I would think that they would because giving them that will be very good for them. My yolks are yellowish so maybe this will help with that.

Many zero turn mowers have baggers available as an accessory. I have always had riding mowers with baggers. I used to bag up the grass clippings and dump them in the garden to add organic material to my sandy soil (I live on a lake). Since I got my chickens, I now dump most of my grass clippings into the chicken run. My 10 chickens love to eat some of the clippings, but they don't eat all of the clippings by any means. Most of the clippings end up as material for composting in the chicken run.

I also have a couple of smaller push mowers with baggers. Sometimes I just cut a strip of grass for fresh clippings to feed to the chickens. When I do that, I only maybe fill up a small bagger for the day and give fresh clippings to the chickens. I have 3 acres of land, so putting aside a patch in the backyard just to grow fresh clippings is not a big deal for me.

In the fall, I will also mow up the leaves in the yard and dump the bags into the chicken run. The chickens don't eat the leaves, but they will scratch and peck through the leaves looking for tasty bugs to eat. All the scratching and pecking in the leaves mixes up the grass clippings and wood chips I also have in the chicken run. That makes for great composting in place in the chicken run. The more types of organic material you can throw in the chicken run seems to make even better compost. Last fall, my chicken run compost litter was about 18 inches deep, but over winter, it had decomposed to about 12 inches. What I have this spring is absolutely beautiful, ready-to-use, compost for my gardens.

Chickens are fantastic composters if you choose to put them to work. If you have 56 chickens, you could probably make more compost than you could ever use. I know, even with only 10 chickens, I have more compost ready to harvest in my chicken run than I can use myself. Last year I was giving away chicken compost to my good neighbors who garden. They really appreciated it.

Not only is the chicken run compost good for your gardens, but my chickens stay outside all day digging into the compost looking for good things to eat. My compost is full of juicy worms and bugs that the chickens love to eat, and it's very good for them. So you are working with their nature and providing them something they love to do - foraging for food. Like I said, my commercial feed consumption goes down by a half, or more, when the chickens are outside foraging for food in the chicken run compost system.

 

[gailbelanger]

Many zero turn mowers have baggers available as an accessory. I have always had riding mowers with baggers. I used to bag up the grass clippings and dump them in the garden to add organic material to my sandy soil (I live on a lake). Since I got my chickens, I now dump most of my grass clippings into the chicken run. My 10 chickens love to eat some of the clippings, but they don't eat all of the clippings by any means. Most of the clippings end up as material for composting in the chicken run.

I also have a couple of smaller push mowers with baggers. Sometimes I just cut a strip of grass for fresh clippings to feed to the chickens. When I do that, I only maybe fill up a small bagger for the day and give fresh clippings to the chickens. I have 3 acres of land, so putting aside a patch in the backyard just to grow fresh clippings is not a big deal for me.

In the fall, I will also mow up the leaves in the yard and dump the bags into the chicken run. The chickens don't eat the leaves, but they will scratch and peck through the leaves looking for tasty bugs to eat. All the scratching and pecking in the leaves mixes up the grass clippings and wood chips I also have in the chicken run. That makes for great composting in place in the chicken run. The more types of organic material you can throw in the chicken run seems to make even better compost. Last fall, my chicken run compost litter was about 18 inches deep, but over winter, it had decomposed to about 12 inches. What I have this spring is absolutely beautiful, ready-to-use, compost for my gardens.

Chickens are fantastic composters if you choose to put them to work. If you have 56 chickens, you could probably make more compost than you could ever use. I know, even with only 10 chickens, I have more compost ready to harvest in my chicken run than I can use myself. Last year I was giving away chicken compost to my good neighbors who garden. They really appreciated it.

Not only is the chicken run compost good for your gardens, but my chickens stay outside all day digging into the compost looking for good things to eat. My compost is full of juicy worms and bugs that the chickens love to eat, and it's very good for them. So you are working with their nature and providing them something they love to do - foraging for food. Like I said, my commercial feed consumption goes down by a half, or more, when the chickens are outside foraging for food in the chicken run compost system.

Thanks so much for all the ideas. I have 7 acres full of weeds and grass. Last year the electric Co trimmed the trees and I has several truck loads put out back. We've been putting loads in the chickens yard to help with the rain. They love it. Now I'll do grass also.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks so much for all the ideas. I have 7 acres full of weeds and grass. Last year the electric Co trimmed the trees and I has several truck loads put out back. We've been putting loads in the chickens yard to help with the rain. They love it. Now I'll do grass also.

Just make sure the grass clippings are short, to minimize any chance of blockages, since you mentioned already having a hen with a crop issue.

One of my hens had a minor impacted crop from too many grass clippings (even though I have a mulching mower not all pieces get cut down evenly) so now rather than bagging the grass I leave it wherever it falls for a day or two, so it dries out, then I put it in the run. The chickens will still eat some but won't gorge on it like they would when it's freshly cut.

 

[gtaus]

Just make sure the grass clippings are short, to minimize any chance of blockages,

What do you consider "short"? Agree it's important that the chickens don't get a blockage.

One of my hens had a minor impacted crop from too many grass clippings

I have been feeding grass clippings to my chickens for 3 years, and have never noticed any impacted crop. Maybe I have just been lucky, or maybe I'm cutting the grass clippings short enough. Anyway, I had to look up impacted crop on YouTube and none of my chickens have ever had those symptoms. But I take the warning to heart and now know what to look for with impacted crop.

Would the chickens have a greater chance of eating long grass if they were allowed to free range? Seems to me that my grass clippings would always be shorter than the grass on the lawn if the chickens free ranged.

rather than bagging the grass I leave it wherever it falls for a day or two, so it dries out, then I put it in the run. The chickens will still eat some but won't gorge on it like they would when it's freshly cut.

Yep, my chickens love fresh grass clippings, but I don't know if they actually gorge on it. I mow the grass and dump the clippings directly into the run. If I don't bag the grass clippings as I mow, there would be nothing to pick up in a day or two.

 

[3KillerBs]

Would the chickens have a greater chance of eating long grass if they were allowed to free range? Seems to me that my grass clippings would always be shorter than the grass on the lawn if the chickens free ranged.

When the chickens tear bits off a living plant they almost always break off bits that are no larger than they can handle because they're tearing it against the resistance of the roots.

 

[gtaus]

When the chickens tear bits off a living plant they almost always break off bits that are no larger than they can handle because they're tearing it against the resistance of the roots.

Good enough. I don't let my birds free range because of predator threat. But I understand what you are saying about biting off only small bits from the top down.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What do you consider "short"? Agree it's important that the chickens don't get a blockage.

Maybe an inch or so? If we haven't mowed in a long time (i.e. first mow of the season) we usually toss all that in the compost bin, because we can get some pretty long pieces, like 6", and I've seen my chickens try to choke those down regardless of the length.

When the chickens tear bits off a living plant they almost always break off bits that are no larger than they can handle because they're tearing it against the resistance of the roots.

Yes, this. When I watch them picking up bits of grass out of the lawn, they're getting more grass tips than entire long blades.