Introducing chick grit

[ckeene1990]

It is time to introduce my chicks to grit, I have sprinkled it over their food a few days. Do I continue to do that or do I offer it by itself? I have them on paper towels right now because they have been eating the wood shavings, I would like to move them back to wood, but read it’s good to have them on grit in case they eat it.

 

[Debbie292d]

I do it by itself in a short little box or plastic sandwich container so they can take dust baths in it too.

 

[K0k0shka]

By itself. Don't mix grit with food - not when they're chicks, and not when they're grown either, it should always be separate. If it's mixed in with the food (and they WILL mix it up as they dig and rake around with their beaks, even if it starts out on top), they may end up eating too much of it as they eat it along with the food, and that can be dangerous and even deadly (it can clog them up).

 

[rosemarythyme]

The way I handle it with chicks is I sprinkle a tiny pinch on the food once every few days. This makes it readily available and prevents them from gorging on grit (which happens on rare occasions).

Once they're ready to move to a larger size of grit, around 6-8 weeks, I have grit offered on the side at that point, as they should be much better about not gorging on new and novel things by then.