home-made grit

[delfargo]

i cannot find "chick grit" at any of my local suppy stores, but i had read on here that sand would work. i have "construction grade" sand on hand, so i put a window screen over a bucket to filter out any bigger stuff, which left me with a bucket of very fine sand. would that be good for the chix? i'm really wanting to give them some "fun food" but i know they need grit for that to happen.
plus... how much grit? i figured i'd just put it out and let them have as much or as little as they want. or should i give it to them in smaller amounts at a time?
thanx for the info.

 

[SallyF]

I have seen chick grit at Tractor Supply, but not recently. For my chicks (now about a month old) I bought a box of bird grit in the pet supply department at WalMart. It looked just like the leveling sand I had at home, so now I just use that.

 

[elmo]

Careful with using bird grit from a pet shop: often it includes calcium and other things that your chicks definitely don't need (chicks should not be offered supplemental calcium). Check the label to be sure you know what's in there.

I use regular chicken grit but pound it up a little with a mortar and pestle. It's not a problem if there are still big pieces in there, the chicks will pick out the size they need. Sand is usually too fine and doesn't have enough rough edges to serve as grit for chickens.

 

[VAeggman]

I'm wondering if I can make my own too!!

Any reason why I can't take an oyster shell in a sock or screen and give it the sledge hammer?

Heading to the beach next week for vacation and thinking about bringing home a few shells for the girls.

Anybody?

 

[Morgan7782]

Construction grade sand is great! You do not have to take anything out, big or small, they will pick and choose what they want.

 

[AlienChick]

Quote:


. . . I'm wondering about this, too.

 

[Lesa]

Oyster shell is for calcium increase. It is not the same thing as grit. Your chickens do not need additional calcium until they are laying. If you are letting your birds outside in the dirt, they are getting grit already...My TS has grit, as well. Enjoy your babies!

 

[delfargo]

Quote:
thanx, morgan. that'll save me a little time (not running the sand through the screen).

 

[VAeggman]

Well the ingredeints on my farm store bought bag just say OYSTER SHELL. So I thought if its pure crushed shell I can do that. I was curious about the age of a shell? Say I just grabbed one from the seafood shack parking lot. Still an OYSTER SHELL. Wonder if it looses any of its calcium value??

Someone help! obviously I think way too much about everything!! Lol!!

 

[Lesa]

I think if you want to crush up oyster shells that would be fine. I can get a 50lb bag for 10.00 - so I wouldn't want to spend too much time doing it! An oyster shell, is an oyster shell. But it is for calcium and not a grit replacement...