Grit???

[Carlos Spicy Chicken]

Hi All. Should I be giving my baby chicks grit? If so, how much. They are getting an organic starter grower feed. Thank you.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I just sprinkle a little pinch on their food every few days. Once they get old enough to move to larger sized grit I stop putting it on the food and just have it on the side.

 

[IamRainey]

I've got 3wo chicks who were brooded and hatched by a Mama Hen. They've been continuously living in the coop & run with their Mama and then with the big girls when Mama lead them out of the nesting box.

I worried about how I'd get them chick feed and chick gauge grit but they've been foraging for themselves in the dirt floor of the run for a couple weeks now. The only things I'm supplying are whatever greens are left over after the hens get bored with them and an occasional handful of all-flock feed thrown on the ground. I take it they get whatever is naturally in the dirt to help grind whatever it is they're actually eating.

God! I sound like a HORRIBLE Chicken Mom but they've been growing and thriving with only attention to their ground level waterers. And, in my defense, I did try to supply them a small feeder with chick feed & grit but, hey!, it was new and the big girls were all over it and it was history within about 5 minutes...

When I brooded chicks inside in a wire kennel I gave them chick feed with some chick grit sprinkled on top.

All things considered, having a Mama Hen is TOTALLY the shitz!!! I don't even have any Mean Girl issues.

 

[Carlos Spicy Chicken]

Awesome. Thank you all. What about diatomaceous earth? Can/should chicks have any?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't use DE at all. Pretty divided on here, some folks believe in it, others do not. I personally feel it's ineffective in most cases and a respiratory irritant otherwise.