Grit?

haleychickmumma

In the Brooder
5 Years
Aug 29, 2014
35
2
31
Gold Coast Australia
Ok my girls are 6 weeks old now.
I'm not quite understanding grit. I've read the thread on chick treats and keep reading about grit e.g sand or gravel. But what do you do with it? Do you have a bowl of it in the coop and they eat it? Or is it sprinkled on their food?
 
Grit works in their crops to help with digesting what they intake. Their systems are way different than ours...they need grit (and oyster shell after they start laying) to help grind up the food they've eaten.

 
I believe the previous poster meant to say "Gizzard" instead of crop or craw, but baby chicks are never to young for grit. I give grit to baby chicks before they get any food at all. In nature baby chicks are exposed to natural sources of grit as soon as they leave the nest. For their first grit, feed it to them on a flat piece of clean cardboard and you can see the chicks natural pecking instinct in action. Just for kicks put some dots or periods on the cardboard and your new biddies will try to eat these ink spots off the cardboard as well as the chick grit. As I've said before baby chicks learn about their surroundings by pecking at their surroundings much as a human baby learns by putting objects in its mouth, starting with its own hand or fist.
 
Thanks for the info
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So do you just buy grit at the feed store?
They are on chick starter still 95% and I give them some leafy greens (as this is all they seem to like at the moment fruit and vege wise) and a boiled egg mashed into their feed once a week.
 
We bought the grit that you use on caged birds when we first got ours and then bought grit and oyster shells grit. We sprinkled it on their food to make sure they ate it. When we started using the oyster shells, we ground it up in our grinder to make it smaller for them. It is important for them to have the grit to grind their food.
 
Thanks for the info
1f60a.png

So do you just buy grit at the feed store?
They are on chick starter still 95% and I give them some leafy greens (as this is all they seem to like at the moment fruit and vege wise) and a boiled egg mashed into their feed once a week.
grit comes in three sizes, baby chick, hen or rooster, and turkey. I think that you can buy a 50 pound sack for less than a 5 pound sack costs.
 
Thanks for the info
1f60a.png

So do you just buy grit at the feed store?
They are on chick starter still 95% and I give them some leafy greens (as this is all they seem to like at the moment fruit and vege wise) and a boiled egg mashed into their feed once a week.
Yes, you can buy grit at your feed store. I use Purina Grit and Purina Oyster Shell.
 
How much should I put out? I have 25 Cornish Cross chicks. They are out in the yard eating bugs for the first time this week. They're 2 weeks old (13 days, actually). I have some chick grit, but every time I set it out, they attack it like it's an amazing treat. I don't want them to have too much, but I want to be sure everyone is getting what they need.
 
dont worry about them getting to much...they just know what to eat...you can use a feeder or a bowl or put it in little pile on the ground.....when i feed my chickens in there 50 by 100 fenced pen i sprinkle it in areas that need aeration...then move to another spot....it seem they would rather have there food sprinkled on the ground so they can peck more that in there feeder...
 

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