purina "starter/grower" has grit in it right?

[yay-for-chickens!]

My gal's and 1 boy are 10 weeks just about, on medicated purina starter/grower.

Does purina Starter grower have grit in it? When can I take them off the medicated stuff?

They are in an outside largeish run, should i start offering a bowl of grit for them to munch on or mix some in the feed?

 

[DouglasPeeps]

I don't think that it has grit in it.

If your birds has access to the ground (where there is dirt and small sand/pebbles) they don't need any grit. They will get it from the ground. If they don't have access, you can sprinkle small amounts in their food.

They should stay on the starter/grower until they start to lay eggs and then switch them to laying pellets/crumbles.

Hope this helps!

 

[HennysMom]

No, grit is a separate thing, to my knowledge it isnt in any feed.

Depending on what type of birds you have - they shouldnt be switched over until around 20-24 weeks, or if they start laying early.

Mine are Red Stars and began laying at 15 weeks - they were still on their chick crumbles when they started laying. We didnt switch them to a layer/grower until then and even then we did 1/2 and 1/2 until they got a bit older and eggs more frequent.

 

[jhm47]

If you're feeding crumbles or pellets, you won't need grit. It's only when you are feeding really hard, whole seed that grit is needed. Even then, they seem to be able to digest their feed quite well.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Call Purina, they've got a great customer service line with very nice humans to answer all your questions. The toll-free number should be on your feed bag.

I believe Purina Start & Grow is supposed to be complete, you don't need to add grit, it's got enough in it already. I think that's what I was told by Purina, but that was a couple of years ago, it could have changed.

 

[chickylady]

I am also feeding the Purina Mills starter/grower. I did buy a bag of Chick grit and sprinkle it lightly on their food. They are not outside yet. Do you feed the medicated stuff? and is it safe to feed it until they are 18 weeks like the package says?

 

[Akane]

As far as I know no chicken feeds have grit added. They are just ground up to the point the chickens don't need grit to digest the feed. They don't have to have grit to digest everything. They only need it for things that require grinding up. That's why you don't have to offer grit until you start feeding treats beyond things like yogurt.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

yes there is a company in california that puts grit in chicken feed

PURINA MILLS NUTRI-SOURCE CHICK GRIT

If you live in Oklahoma you have several convenient options (click on them) for receiving your order. You may use our Load N Go service for picking up your order at the store. You may use our route delivery service if you want feed and/or materials delivered regularly to your home or business. For occasional large or heavy orders for items such as hay, feed, fence or lumber you may use our Lumber 2 freight service. If preferable, in and out of state orders may proceed with UPS shipping.

Your Price $5.29

Manufacturer: Nutri Source (Purina Mills)
Product Weight: 5lb resealable bag

but I don't think it is Purina
as this is what came up
so I would provide them with goodgranite grit
especially if they are running out in free range

 

[domino7]

Quote:
THIS seems like the best answer . People shouldn't answer these questions unless they know. It just causes more confusion. That's my opinion anyway. At the very least let people know that you don't have that much experience when dispensing advice.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

here is the reasoning I always used in my 60 yrs f chickens
the mother hen takes her brood out and yes they scratch up grit of all sizes
also it can;t hurt the chickens
as long as you have waterers for the chicks to get feed
buy the mineralized pigeon grip and it does double duty for chickens
good minerals as well as granite grit

small pea gravel will do the same ting