Grit?

[Melyssa]

If my 5 week old chicks are in an outside pen do I need to feed them grit as well as their food?

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Most starter is complete and doesn't need any unless you add other foods. Once they are outside they can find it in the ground. However, once they are laying, I ALWAYS add crushed shell for the extra calcium. But they do not need all that calcium prior to laying and it is actually not good for them then.

HTH


Rusty

 

[Opa]

If they are outside they will probably be able to obtain the necessary grit from the soil, however, I always keep grit available for them to free feed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you live in an area where the soil is rocky, you should not need to provide grit. If you live in an area where rocks are rare, yes you do. As Opa said, it never hurts to provide it free choice.

Chicks need a sand sized grit but grown chickens need grit from the size of a pea to smaller.

 

[Opa]

Ridgerunner, where in NW Arkansas do you find pea sized and smaller rocks?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Opa,
I have the technology, which means I have the hardware and the software. The hardware is a 5 pound sledge. The software was growing up with a father that made sure I could handle the hardware.

 

[Babe77]

My girls are still inside until this weekend and I give them yogurt , hard boiled eggs and grass.

So does that mean that if your 5 wk olds are NOT outside yet and you are scattering grass in their brooder, that they then need grit or should I just supply them with some of our soil which is pretty much sand?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would give them grit with the grass. The soil that is mostly sand should work fine. That's what I did.

Make sure the grass pieces are not very long. If you use a mulching lawn mower, it should be fine. When chickens eat grass that is growing, they are able to bite off small chunks. If you give them grass that is cut they cannot tear it. A long piece can get stuck in their craw, causing an impacted craw. I don't know the right length for a 5 week old. I've read on here that 2" is fine for a grown chicken. It does not happen every time, but it does happen.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would give them grit with the grass. The soil that is mostly sand should work fine. That's what I did.

Make sure the grass pieces are not very long. If you use a mulching lawn mower, it should be fine. When chickens eat grass that is growing, they are able to bite off small chunks. If you give them grass that is cut they cannot tear it. A long piece can get stuck in their craw, causing an impacted craw. I don't know the right length for a 5 week old. I've read on here that 2" is fine for a grown chicken. It does not happen every time, but it does happen.

 

[Opa]

As strange as it seems, long grass can be a problem. Ridgerunner was right on about that. I recently had a distressed hen with a grass impacted crop. Fortunately I caught it in time and was able to milk it out and pull out long strands of grass. However, exercise caution if milking their crop, watch closely and if it appears they are in respiratory distress, stop immediately and allow them to breathe.