Horticultural/potting grit instead of poultry grit?

[Kaiju]

Hi all,

Would horticultural grit be a suitable replacement for normal poultry grit for my ducks?

I am struggling to find poultry grit in a larger quantity, that doesn't also contain oyster shell. My local feed stores only sell plain flint grit in a 1kg tub. The big 20kg sacks are "mixed grit". I have drakes, so I really don't want that. I'd prefer to offer grit and oyster shell separately even if I didn't have drakes, to be honest.

I am having so much trouble finding any poultry grit online that isn't mixed grit. As well, I'd also really like to get something a bit smaller than a 20kg sack - 5kg or 10kg would be a lot easier for storage. I already have a lot of big black locking bins full of various animal feed, bedding, hay etc and various size tubs in my shed too.

However, I have found 5kg and 10kg bags of horticultural grit. They are limestone free. Most horticultural grit seems to be 1-6mm.

All the potting grit I've had before for plants has been fairly sharp edged, not too smooth, so I feel like it should be the right type for their gizzards?

Most types don't specify the exact stones used. I found one that's purely quartzite but it's a bit more expensive. But I don't mind if that'd be more suitable.

So would horticultural/potting grit be suitable to use?

 

[Canadian Wind]

Sharp edges aren't necessarily better, imo. That could cause damage to the gizzard.

The 20 kg bags I get are small, actually. I guess the type of stone they use here is different, and weighs more?

In any case, I don't think it would be much of an issue so long as no fertilizers have been added to it.

 

[Kaiju]

Sharp edges aren't necessarily better, imo. That could cause damage to the gizzard.

The 20 kg bags I get are small, actually. I guess the type of stone they use here is different, and weighs more?

In any case, I don't think it would be much of an issue so long as no fertilizers have been added to it.

Thanks for your reply!

Not sharp as in sharp will cut you, but they are not really smooth edged like gravel often is. I was under the impression smooth stones like gravel were useless for grit? Perfectly happy to be wrong, though!

Maybe so. I've only seen in person the 20kg bags of mixed grit which are pretty large, so maybe our stone is lighter, or it's the oyster shell that takes up so much space vs the grit since it's mixed together. I ideally want something that'll fit inside either the lidded buckets I have (fit about 5-10kg feed depending on type), or will fit within its bag in the same big bin that I store their oyster shell in (as that takes up about 3/4 of the bin).

Guess I could always try ordering a 20kg of plain poultry grit online or asking my feed store if they can order it in. And just dealing with it the one time if it does turn out to be too big. Because I am now wondering if it's the fact that it also contains oyster shell that makes the bags so large in size. Since they are always mixed grit.

The horticultural grit is definitely just pure grit, no fertiliser. I've used them for potting plants before and they are very inert, don't chnage the pH or the nutrients of the soil. At least the brands I've used!

 

[Canadian Wind]

I always figured it was the actual hardness of the grit, since that's what's needed to crush the food. Do your birds free range at all? Or have access to the ground (as compared to flooring)? They may be getting some of what they need this way. I rarely offer grit since mine are out all the time.

 

[Kaiju]

I always figured it was the actual hardness of the grit, since that's what's needed to crush the food. Do your birds free range at all? Or have access to the ground (as compared to flooring)? They may be getting some of what they need this way. I rarely offer grit since mine are out all the time.

They do have access to the ground at all times, except when they're in the coop overnight. They're penned rather than fully free range though. But we have very heavy clay soils here, so I'm not sure if they can even get good access to grit/stones by themselves. The ground gets really hard over summer, and flip flops between hard and muddy over the winter.

I also dump a layer of bark chips to keep it cleaner, so I can just scoop all the bark chips out and compost them. They can easily get under the bark chips and root around for bugs and bits, but not sure if this'll make it even trickier for them to get grit.

The grit I provide in a tray does go down, so they're definitely utilising it.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Okay, sounds like you're doing alright then. If the horticultural stuff doesn't have additives and you're comfortable with it, I say go for it. Hopefully they don't overcharge for it.

 

[Kaiju]

Okay, sounds like you're doing alright then. If the horticultural stuff doesn't have additives and you're comfortable with it, I say go for it. Hopefully they don't overcharge for it.

Thanks much for all your help!

So far it looks like I can get it for roughly the same price per kg as the plain flint poultry grit. I'll see what it looks like when I buy it, and I can always use it for potting up plants if it doesn't look like it'll work. Most of the types I've bought before look like they should work though, but I'm always just worrying lol.

And well, I can always just suck it up and buy another big storage bin and order in the poultry grit if it doesn't work out! I just... really don't want yet another storage bin if I can avoid it, haha.