Grit

[Ziggy1973]

I was ordering chick feed from the local farm store website and saw that they offer grit for baby chicks. Is grit necessary at three weeks? At what age should I start offering grit? Thanks!

 

[R2elk]

I was ordering chick feed from the local farm store website and saw that they offer grit for baby chicks. Is grit necessary at three weeks? At what age should I start offering grit? Thanks!

Grit isn't needed as long as you are only feeding processed feed. Once you start giving anything else, they need the grit in order to make the food digestible.

 

[mapurcel]

You start giving grit to chicks when they are eating anything other than chick feed. They need it to break up more fibrous foods. I gave it to my chicks after about a week. May I suggest parakeet grit from Petco or someplace else? It is way cheaper and does the same job.

 

[Llillyfnp]

My question goes along with yours. We just put our flock of 8 outside in their coop/run. I still give them feed in their feeder everyday. They have that PDZ stall refresher in their litter tray under their roost in the coop that I have noticed some pecking at. Do I need to add Grit and will the PDZ harm them? They all seem to be acting well thus far but have only been outside for 2 days so far!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ziggy1973]

Grit isn't needed as long as you are only feeding processed feed. Once you start giving anything else, they need the grit in order to make the food digestible.

Thank you! I was a bit confused as to why a chick would need grit.

 

[Ziggy1973]

You start giving grit to chicks when they are eating anything other than chick feed. They need it to break up more fibrous foods. I gave it to my chicks after about a week. May I suggest parakeet grit from Petco or someplace else? It is way cheaper and does the same job.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Mamatomany123]

My question goes along with yours. We just put our flock of 8 outside in their coop/run. I still give them feed in their feeder everyday. They have that PDZ stall refresher in their litter tray under their roost in the coop that I have noticed some pecking at. Do I need to add Grit and will the PDZ harm them? They all seem to be acting well thus far but have only been outside for 2 days so far!

Thanks in advance!

Do they have access to their run? My chicks have been outside since 3 weeks, they're 8 now, and I dont provide grit. They find it themselves in their run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens don't have teeth to grind up certain things like grass, grain, or some creepy crawlies they eat. They do have a gizzard which can mash stuff up but they still need rocks in that gizzard to act like teeth and grind those things up.

If they have access to dirt and your dirt has bits of rock in it, they'll find their own. One if the first things my broody hens do is take their chicks to a patch of bare ground where they can peck and get grit. Most areas have dirt with small rocks in it but maybe if you live on reclaimed swamp land there aren't any rocks?

Chickens can use practically any rocks as grit to grind their food. The harder it is the longer it lasts. The Grit you buy at the feed store is almost certainly granite, a very hard rock. They screen the wastes from a granite quarry to get bits the right size.

They do not need grit for chick feed. It has already been ground up. If it is in chunks those will break apart when they hit the digestive juices. But it's a good idea to feed them grit or let them find their own before feeding much of anything else.

 

[mapurcel]

My question goes along with yours. We just put our flock of 8 outside in their coop/run. I still give them feed in their feeder everyday. They have that PDZ stall refresher in their litter tray under their roost in the coop that I have noticed some pecking at. Do I need to add Grit and will the PDZ harm them? They all seem to be acting well thus far but have only been outside for 2 days so far!

Thanks in advance!

I just googled PDZ and their website said that this product "Serves as a fantastic grit - calcium is part of the mineral make-up"

https://sweetpdz.com/coop-refresher/

 

[CraftyHen]

My question goes along with yours. We just put our flock of 8 outside in their coop/run. I still give them feed in their feeder everyday. They have that PDZ stall refresher in their litter tray under their roost in the coop that I have noticed some pecking at. Do I need to add Grit and will the PDZ harm them? They all seem to be acting well thus far but have only been outside for 2 days so far!

Thanks in advance!

PDZ will not harm the chicks. I've used it for years.