I thought chicks need grit?

[jeepgrrl]

Hi all,

I always thought you had to give chickens/chicks grit. A person a talked to who has had chickens for a long time said she never used grit...is that true I don't need it? When the chicks are in the brooder they need it, don't they? If they are on wood chips with no sand or dirt them they can't get grit. I bought a bag of 'chick grit' and want to use it anyway. It is not opened yet so I thought I could ask here and see if it is worth keeping.

I want to make sure my chicks have a lot of grit so they can digest their food. I also want to get them used to it so when they get big enough to go outside in the real coop that they eat the one I give them or pick it up from the ground.

Thank you!

Hi cluckmecoop7! I've only raised two flocks of day olds (both successfully, no losses, 2017 and 2018) so I am no expert and don't want to criticize the expertise of those who are much more experienced, but I gave my chicks chick grit in a separate feeder base at around week 2 until they were out of the brooder at around week 7. I have sand in the chicken run (NOT play sand, too much silica, but regular all-purpose sand) which has small bits of gravel in it so I usually don't add additional grit, especially during the warmer months when they can get out and free range. However, during the winter I will keep a feeder base of grit in the run because the sand gets more dirty from the hens being in there more due to the snow/ice, thus having less of an opportunity to forage for gravel, and I want them to have the option of clean grit vs the dirty run sand grit. I replace the sand in the run in early Spring.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My chickens are not going to be free-range so I am going to give them grit. If I have leftover chick grit can I give it to the big chickens? Will it still help them?

You can but it likely won't help them much (and they might not eat it at all). For older birds you need grit of an appropriate size to function correctly.

Chick grit is at left, pullet size (my store marks it as hen grit) middle, large hen size right.

 

[Mimi13]

Thank you everyone!

My chickens are not going to be free-range so I am going to give them grit. If I have leftover chick grit can I give it to the big chickens? Will it still help them?

Thank you!

The chick grit will not hurt the larger birds, but it probably won’t stick with them as long. As the birds grow they tend to consume larger pieces of grit. These larger pieces stay in the gizzard until they are worn down and then are passed on through. At least that is what I’m hoping for when I process one of my very first hens. She ate my diamond earring when she was 5 weeks old. Since diamonds are supposedly the hardest mineral, nothing should be able to “wear” it down, causing it to have passed.

I’m going for that gizzard first!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thank you @Mimi’s 13 and @rosemarythyme!

 

[Eggscaping]

[QUOTE=". At least that is what I’m hoping for when I process one of my very first hens. She ate my diamond earring when she was 5 weeks old. Since diamonds are supposedly the hardest mineral, nothing should be able to “wear” it down, causing it to have passed.

I’m going for that gizzard first![/QUOTE]

Please do let us know if you find that diamond!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Please let us know!

 

[jeepgrrl]

Thank you everyone!

My chickens are not going to be free-range so I am going to give them grit. If I have leftover chick grit can I give it to the big chickens? Will it still help them?

Thank you!

I'd just add

The chick grit will not hurt the larger birds, but it probably won’t stick with them as long. As the birds grow they tend to consume larger pieces of grit. These larger pieces stay in the gizzard until they are worn down and then are passed on through. At least that is what I’m hoping for when I process one of my very first hens. She ate my diamond earring when she was 5 weeks old. Since diamonds are supposedly the hardest mineral, nothing should be able to “wear” it down, causing it to have passed.

I’m going for that gizzard first!

Good golly! And I thought I heard it all! I'll have to pay more attention to my bling when I'm around my girls. They usually try for my watch and beaded bracelets. I'm wishing you a brilliant outcome and hope all goes well! BTW, did you name the hen Diamond? So sorry I couldn't resist.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

This is a great article on the benefits of grit, even for birds on only water soluble feed
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...feeding-grit-to-poultry.891051/#post-13560662

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Their chick crumble will have it included as most chick brooding is understood to be done in a brooder until about 6 weeks old or fully feathered and ready for either free ranging or a coop in which you will then need to provide a side of grit for penned birds if they don't already have it on the substrate they are walking on.
Chick food has grit.

Chicken --adult food does not. Essentially.

 

[Mimi13]

Please do let us know if you find that diamond!

Please let us know!

Oh I’m sure I’ll shout to the rooftops if it’s in there. Of course, I googled the digestive system of a chicken as soon as it happened and google actually had several incidents of the very same thing that happened to me. One lady reported that it took her 7 years to get her diamond back.

So many people said to go ahead and cull her, but it would have been for naught since she was only 5 weeks old. And, this was at the very beginning of my chicken keeping adventure and was not ready to process my little babies.

So, here I am nearly 3 years later and Butter is still running around happy as can be, and most likely diamond free. Oh well, maybe some day 100 years from now, someone will be digging around in the spot I used to dump my chicken litter (my four hens were confined for a year and a half) and come across something shining in the sun.

Life will go on.

P.S. I don’t wear earrings at all anymore.