ratio for chick starter and grit

[urban-chick-mom]

I am a new chick mom. My chicks are 3 weeks old now and I want to mix the grit in with the food. Does anyone know the ratio? I have been just sprinkling the grit on top of the food but was wondering if I could mix them to make it easier. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Celtic Chick]

You can either keep sprinkling it in their food or just pour it in a separate bowl & let them have it free choice. They are old enough for that now.

 

[PhilErvin]

I'm not being critical but only curious; Why would you want to mix grit with chick's feed?

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If all that you are feeding them is chick starter they have no need of grit. It's just dry mush.

Anything that you yourself would need to chew with your teeth to eat they will need grit for.

As for the proper ration just sprinkle it on top of their feed like you were salting it. That's all they need. Alternatively you could set a small container such as a tuna can full of dry coarse sand in the brooder and let them get what they want when they feel the need.

 

[urban-chick-mom]

Thanks for the advice. I just thought it would be easy to mix with the food. I think I will just put in a separate bowl for them.

 

[areyoumymother]

I put my 3 week old chics in the big house a couple of days ago as our daytime temps are high 80's and nightime temps 70....they were just getting too big for the brooder...

Anyway, because now they can forage in the run, grass, bugs, etc. I mixed in a 5lb bag of ground chic grit (granite) to about 30 lbs of their crumbles per the instructions on the grit bag and they are doing well so far.

 

[KenK]

Quote:
That seems like an excessive amount. Are you sure the bag doesn't say 1lb to 30-40 lbs of food?

 

[areyoumymother]

Quote:
That seems like an excessive amount. Are you sure the bag doesn't say 1lb to 30-40 lbs of food?

Good catch....

now that I think about it...the bag of grit was not very big...it probably was more like 1lb....

I did followed the instructions on the bag

 

[urban-chick-mom]

thanks for the info everyone!

 

[Reay82]

I was reading the above thread which is years old, has anything changed? I am also a new chick Mom, my chicks are 10 days old. I have just been sprinkling some grit on the top of their food, because that’s what they told me to do it IFA, I have stirred it around a little and put a little bit more, but it would sure be nice to find out what the ratio should be. I’m using just a small feeder probably has 10 little holes on it came in the starter box. If you put grit in a small bowl next to their food, stupid question, but are they smart enough to not just eat it as food which is also not good for them. How old should chicks be before you put a small little bowl next to their food