Simple Grit Question

[Selena]

Question along the same lines, since I don't know what type of soil/dirt the topic starter has it may still be helpful to them...

Do people need to buy grit if they have free range or pastured poultry on sandy soil?

My local feed store says no... but I tend to trust more than one opinion.

And I think in some ways sizes are also up to the manufacturer.

 

[PuffMommy]

I tried buying grit for my 6 week olds and they were out...so i put a little bowl of sand from the sand box in the run and they inhaled it. is this ok?

 

[moodusnewchick]

Kind of related...is the grit re-used? Like I bought this whole bag of grit and the girls free range. I don't often give them the store bought grit. Will you know if you need to or do you just figure if they're eating anything other than commercial feed, they need grit? What my question really is is what happens to the grit? Does it pass and get re-used when found? Does it digest? If it does go somewhere, how long does it stay in the crop?

 

[dacjohns]

I don't know about it passing all the way through the system.
I'm pretty sure it goes to the gizzard where it helps to grind up the food there.

 

[d.k]

* I read about what happens to grit, think it was at the ms state site, but not positive on that. It stays in the gizzard until it is worn down small enough to pass through the digestive tract. That would seem to indicate that sand may not do the trick for full grown birds. Omelet says flint grit is the best, but they didn't post anything to back that up that I saw.