Parakeet grit OK for grown chickens?

[Sonya9]

Grit used as an aid to digestion is made of ground granite - very hard and angular, and very effective in grinding seeds and roughage in the gizzard.

Cool info. I didn't realize that it was granite, that is definitely much better than the sand they would find in the soil around here.

 

[Sonya9]

To the op -- if you live in a decent sized city then some feed store must have it.

If you are in a rural area with smaller mom/pop type stores then ask them to order it for you. My local feed store only carries the basics (i.e. cheap chicken supplies for the folks around here) but they have been great about ordering special items as long as their distributors carry them (i.e. pdz, natural layer feeds, etc...)

 

[lazy gardener]

Also, grit is not always made of granite. The 50# bag I bought last fall is definitely not granite.

 

[Sonya9]

Manna Pro is granite (just looked it up).

IMO saving a few pennies by not providing grit is silly, if they can't digest the grains/seeds/bugs they find because they don't have enough grit then that is lost nutrition.

 

[1muttsfan]

Also, grit is not always made of granite.  The 50# bag I bought last fall is definitely not granite.  

I'm curious, what is it? I have yet to see any that is not.

 

[Brienna]

To the op -- if you live in a decent sized city then some feed store must have it.

If you are in a rural area with smaller mom/pop type stores then ask them to order it for you. My local feed store only carries the basics (i.e. cheap chicken supplies for the folks around here) but they have been great about ordering special items as long as their distributors carry them (i.e. pdz, natural layer feeds, etc...)

I'll keep searching but the "feed stores" here are hardware stores with a small poultry section. They pretty much have all the same supplier and the employees are pretty clueless about chickens. My boyfriend did find a place a bit more specialized in poultry, but it's about an hour drive. It's worth it though, we will probably drive there soon enough and stock up for a while.

thanks everyone for your input, will consider everything you said

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm curious, what is it? I have yet to see any that is not.

Ok, after reading a bit on this post, I had to go down and look at my grit bag: It's Manna Pro brand, and labeled Insoluble crushed granite. But, it doesn't look like any granite I've ever seen. It's a solid color, the color of bricks. Very dusty, does not have any of the typical multi-colored flecks that I associate with granite. So, MY BAD! I stand corrected. My grit is granite!

 

[1muttsfan]

I took some one time and tried to crush it smaller for some chicks - could not even dent the stuff, it was so hard.

 

[Cluckies]

I'll keep searching but the "feed stores" here are hardware stores with a small poultry section. They pretty much have all the same supplier and the employees are pretty clueless about chickens. My boyfriend did find a place a bit more specialized in poultry, but it's about an hour drive. It's worth it though, we will probably drive there soon enough and stock up for a while.

thanks everyone for your input, will consider everything you said

You won't need to stock up much, one small bag should last for a few years, depending on how many chickens you have.

I have 6 chickens and have maybe gone through a half a cup in months. I keep it free choice in a holder exactly like this one that holds my oyster shell. I fill the oyster shell about every week or two, the grit I filled in the fall and it is still good.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Buying grit is a luxury. Dump a wheelbarrow of dirt in the run for them to scratch and play in. They will get rocks and pebbles that will act as grit. The other option is to go to HD and for $5 pick up a bag of pea gravel or X coarse sand. Dump that in the run.

It's only a luxury in some areas. You could dig 5 feet deep on my entire property and not hit a single rock - it's all fine clay.

Pea gravel is too large - extra coarse sand is probably about right.