Is it okay for chickens to be addictive to grit?

[bshwhckr]

Hi All,

I am new to the forum

I have four chickens that are 7 months old that are doing great but have acquired a bit of a taste for grit – they eat about 4 cups of it a week total. The grit includes oyster shell, charcoal and minerals and they have continuous access to a high quality laying mash. They do roam the yard a few hours a week eating bugs, grasses, etc but not enough for me to think they need that much grit. I would assume this is okay but I wanted to double check with others.

Is it appropriate to limit the time grit is available or mix it up in their feed to limit consumption?

Regardless, the eggs taste great and the shells are nice and strong

Thanks!

 

[FrenchHen]

Is there any granite in the grit? None of those sound like standard grit to me...

 

[bshwhckr]

I do not know if it is granite per say but it does look like tiny versions of the rocks I climb in Yosemite Valley

 

[FrenchHen]

I don't know. If there's rocks in it, I don't have an answer. It seems to be too much, but since we free range, we don't worry about grit.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Personally I would keep the grit and the calcium supplement (likely ground oyster shell) separate. Hens that are actively laying need a fair amount of calcium. Grit not so much.

.....Alan.

 

[mdbokc]

And then there are my layers who consume twice the grit compared to oyster shell; they free range every day. Every flock adjusts to what is available in its area and needs.

 

[Dutchess]

Welcome to BYC BSHWCKR!

I am not an expert by any means, but I wouldn't worry too much about the grit issue, they'll only take what they need.

 

[Stan]

According to NC Granite, layers should eat 1/6 to 1/3 pounds of grit a month per hen. The real granite (Gran-I-Grit) size for Layers is 3/16" to 5/16" (Developer-Layer Size). They also say that undersized grit will be be passed thru the gizzard with minimal effect on grinding up food with the normal muscular contractions of the gizzard. I would expect this may be your problem....3/16" to 5/16" is rather large....and reak granite is very tuff....