Grit

[BigBlueHen53]

Not true for most brands that I have checked (I've read the ingredient list on the bag, for several brands over several years.)

I corrected my post, Nat. Again, thanks for the correction.

 

[bigblueteach]

I have not checked all brands, and of course companies do change their recipes sometimes, so my experience may not match what someone else finds.

It's one of many cases where someone on the internet (like me) says something, but the only way to be sure about the product you buy is to read the label on that bag


Chickens do not need grit for crumbles or pellets. All of those are made by grinding up the ingredients and then squishing them back together into some size pieces. When it gets wet inside the chicken, it comes apart into finely-ground pieces again.

It doesn't matter whether it's a chick starter or a grower feed or a layer feed, if it is made the same way, the chickens do not need grit to digest it.

If you are ever in doubt about a particular feed, you can put a little bit in a dish and add water to see how it behaves.

Can you elaborate more on the water and how it might behave?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not true for most brands that I have checked (I've read the ingredient list on the bag, for several brands over several years.)

Someone posted a feed tag earlier this year that did include grit in the list of ingredients. So it is possible but probably not the norm.

As I brood outdoors directly on the run floor and I feed Scratch & Peck starter which is a whole grain mash milled down to smaller (but still noticeable) pieces, I always give chicks grit right off the bat.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I give grit starting abot Day Three after they arrive ( whhich would be about Day Six after hatch), and about three days after that I start sprinkling broken dried mealworms on the puppy pee pads on the bottom of their brooders. It's my way of teaching them to come to the sound of my voice as early as possible.

 

[NatJ]

Can you elaborate more on the water and how it might behave?

If you put crumbles or pellets in a dish and add water, the pieces soak up the water and get big and soft.

Depending on the amount of water, you might have a dish of mush, or you might have bits sitting in the bottom of a dishful of water.

You can usually see that it's just little bits, but you can also squish with your fingers or stir with a spoon to notice what size pieces there are.

Incidentally, chickens usually like wet feed. Some people feed it that way all the time to reduce waste (because wet feed sticks together and doesn't get tossed out by chicken beaks as much as dry food does). Some people feed it as a treat: it can be warm in winter or cold in summer (use hot or cold water depending on the season). And unlike other treats, you do not have to care if the chickens eat "too much" and ignore their other feed, because it's the same nutition either way.

Someone posted a feed tag earlier this year that did include grit in the list of ingredients. So it is possible but probably not the norm.

That definitely makes it a case where people should check the label on their own bag of feed, because not all kinds are the same.