The Science Of Feeding Grit To Poultry

[Beekissed]

Out of all the kinds of rock available to my free range flocks down through the 40 yrs I've kept and butchered chickens, there is consistently one kind of stone I find in gizzards across the board...white quartz. That seems to be the preferred stone of all kinds available, even when actual commercial grit is supplied. That is also what we find in wild turkey gizzards.

Not sure if any studies done on that but that's the one stone that I always find more prevalent than other kinds of rock. Second to that are wild cherry pits.

Long, long after cherries have been eaten and are no longer to be found, I'll butcher and find cherry pits. Not because they cannot be digested and passed along...if that was the case the birds would all die from impacted gizzards.

This thought got me thinking about sources of quartz to use for grit. My flock have been crossing through the woods into a little holler to pick for grit and I'd prefer they not go that far out of the meadow, so I decided to find them some quartz for grit. Found some 4 lb bags of quartz at Lowe's in the garden center. They went through a 4 lb bag of quartz in under a week and repeated that not long after when I got them another one. That's a lot of rock for a flock of 14 birds and I'm not seeing any in the stool, so not sure what to think about that.

I'm not seeing much difference in their intake or weight with the addition of more grit to their diet, so not sure I'll keep repeating that process too often, but have an extra bag of quartz on hand for the next time I see them using the holler a lot for picking up quartz.

 

[birds4kids]

Honestly they will likely "recycle" the grit after they are done with it once as they scratch around their usual areas.

 

[MeepBeep]

Honestly they will likely "recycle" the grit after they are done with it once as they scratch around their usual areas.

Grit has to be the proper size to get 'stuck' in the gizzard, once it's ground down and too small it's passed, other smaller birds might recycle what is passed if it's the appropriate size for them but not birds of a similar size as the ground down grit that passed as it's now too small for them...

 

[Beekissed]

Yep!

 

[mama4cpta]

Help! I have 6 week old "chicks" I've only given builder grade sand to once. Have I messed them up?!?!

 

[Rockvillian]

Can I give my birds "granite dust" from the local stone quarry?

 

[MeepBeep]

Can I give my birds "granite dust" from the local stone quarry?

Dust will do no good, it has to be the proper size so it gets stuck in the gizzard and can be used to grind the food, too small and it passes right though...

 

[elaineinspain]

If they are being fed only a commercial feed (no ranging or fresh offerings) there is little to no need for grit, and grit has to be properly sized for the bird or it does no good...

At 8 weeks you would probably want 'layer' sized grit aka size #3 or a mix of #2 (grower) and #3 (layer) if you have some smaller birds in the mix...

@Beekissed
@MeepBeep
hi! Sorry to re-awaken this subject if you've already put it to bed, but I got my first ever chickens 3 days ago. They are 7 weeks old and have only ever eaten commercial mash, so they never received grit.

I live in Spain, and when I ask at the farmers supply store down the road for chicken grit, they laugh at me and tap the sides of their heads like to say I'm crazy!

I would love to give my chicks treats, you know a couple of mealy worms, slice of tomato, cucumber, cabbage leaf, and I know they need grit before I can give them any.

I have been told to dig some earth and grit from the area they will eventually be free ranging, and give them that while they are still in the brooder. (Hubby is putting the finishing touches on the coop) I did that yesterday. I have seen them peck at it a bit.
Also a neighbour said I can hammer a house brick into grit sized pieces, as there isn't much natural grit in the clay earth here.
I have done that and given it to them this morning. They seem more interested in it, maybe because of the red colour.
But none of it is granite, like the commercially packed stuff, nor do I know how big is the correct size of grit to give them. It's all different sizes! some rounded, some sharp.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this, (or anyone else's that knows about these things) and advice.

Thank you

 

[lcertuche]

Years ago my flock was free-range and let the mama hens worry about their chicks but now I find myself with chicks. I have been giving them sand and putting some dirt on the floor of their cage for them. Now I wonder if that is enough. They are growing at an amazing rate and eat everything that we throw in the pen including their starter feed. I will be looking into some better sources of grit besides sand. I want my feathered-babies to be healthy and happy. They already get busy scratching and chasing each other over treats. Thanks for providing this information.

 

[MeepBeep]

If your feed store is giving you funny looks when asking for grit, it's time to find a new feed store... Or inquire about 'flint' grit as that appears to be more popular in Europe...

As for using chunks of bricks, it's a very temporary solution unless they have an endless supply, as the bricks are no where near as hard as granite and will be ground up and expelled from the gizzard quite fast...