How much Grit will needed for the winter?

[evemfoster]

I know the answer is provide grit all the time, but i need to know how much grit to make.

While I have had chickens off and on for over 30 years I haven't ever had chickens where winters are long and hard as where i am living now. Always before the snows melted in a week to a month at the most and the chickens were back outside. So i have no idea how much grit they were consuming. Now that i have moved to place where i can have chickens again i have a bit of a quandary.

Where I live now we have 6 to 7 months of the year with snow completely covering the ground. Some winters the snow gets 5 feet deep but most of the time its only a couple feet at the most. So i am going to have to provide all their grit all winter long. My land is on a mountain - all trees, boulders, rocks, gravel and rock dust soil so the chickens getting grit the rest of the year is no problem.

However come winter they will be pretty much stuck in the coop for 4 months strait. My little local feed store doesn't carry grit so i have to come up with it myself. My choices are dig it up in the summer or order it online, so digging it up it is. I am trying to store up enough grit to last 8 chickens all winter long. So far I have sifted out about 30 pounds of grit (3 coffee cans) and have no idea if I have overdone it or how much more grit needs to be sifted.




I need some help figuring out how much more grit may be needed. Could those of you who have had experience giving your flocks 100% of their grit for a time let me know about how much grit your hens go through please. It sure would be appreciated.

 

[chickensfinally]

I don't have your answer because this is my first year with chickens. But I do believe that the grit stays in them for a bit and doesn't just go on through. Also, wouldn't the grit that goes on through "technically" still be available to use again? I mean it doesn't digest, right? Just thinking outloud. --Carrie

 

[evemfoster]

I don't have your answer because this is my first year with chickens. But I do believe that the grit stays in them for a bit and doesn't just go on through. Also, wouldn't the grit that goes on through "technically" still be available to use again? I mean it doesn't digest, right? Just thinking outloud. --Carrie

I expect to have to keep putting in layers of straw into the coop covering up the old poo. It as attempt to help keep them warm.

I did read up on the grit while trying to figure out what screen sizes i would need. The site i found said that anything small enough for the hens to swallow is small enough to not stay in the gizzard. The grit moves out of the gizzard along with the feed that will be getting pooped out.

 

[Chris09]

It is hard to say, The type of feed that you feed will play big role in how often a chicken will need to replace grit but for the most part grit will last about 5 to 7 days in the gizzard before it needs to be replaced.
I bed my coops and pens with all purpose sand and never payed much thought to it.

 

[evemfoster]

It is hard to say, The type of feed that you feed will play big role in how often a chicken will need to replace grit but for the most part grit will last about 5 to 7 days in the gizzard before it needs to be replaced.
I bed my coops and pens with all purpose sand and never payed much thought to it.

I'm afraid i haven't a clue myself I have only free ranged in a much milder climate. There was plenty of grit on the place, i lived across the road from a gravel pit. Still I bought a bag of grit in the early 80s' just in case. I still had 90% of it on hand when i moved in 2004. And I had used most of missing 10% to get the car unstuck one winter.

Well, i think i will make a couple more cans and call it good. Hopefully I'll have enough for 5 winters.