Too much grit?

[mechagrue]

I feel SO TERRIBLE right now. I accidentally locked my chickens out of the coop (where their feeder is) ALL DAY. I left at 9AM, and came back at 915PM (right at dusk) to find a sad pile of chickens asleep on the ramp to the coop.

They are in a tractor, so they had access to grass all day. And I tossed in a fist-sized hunk of stale bread before I left. I'm sure a day without crumble isn't going to kill them. However, I'm worried that they may have eaten too much chicken grit.

Between the four of them (17 weeks old) they ate about a cup of grit today. 1/4th cup of grit per chicken seems like an awful lot!

Is this a problem? Is there anything I can do to help them? I'm worried that if their crops are filled with grit, there won't be any room for food in there, and they could slowly starve. Sorry if this sounds like a silly worry, these are my first chickens - I really don't know!

 

[perched]

Oh, don't feel bad. There are chickens in worse situations out there, and they survive. The bread, the grass....any creepy crawlies they found...don't worry, they will be fine. Ours eat pebbles, grit and sand all the time...probably way more than yours ate durng that time. Get some sleep and be happy you found them and remedied the situation when you did.

 

[mechagrue]

Thanks, perched! I just came back to post a quick update. I couldn't sleep for worrying about them, so I went out and checked their crops by flashlight. They were not rightly pleased with this, by the way! There was much outraged clucking. (But in my animal husbandry experience, "outrage" is a good sign. Sick animals are rarely outraged.)

Their crops feel fine. A little hard, but not swollen - I had to probe around their throats just in order to find it.

After reading a bunch of threads about impacted crops (why do I do these things before bedtime?) I decided to take out most of their food, so that they don't gorge themselves when they wake up. I left them about half a cup of crumbles in their feeder. That should hold them until I get up tomorrow, and can keep an eye on them when I refill the feeder.

Sorry, everyone - you know what new mothers are like!

 

[perched]

You're welcome! Awwwwwwwwwwww, you are so sweet...what a good chicken mommy!!!!!!

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

No worries, my roo free-ranges all day while I'm home and he has access to grit as well as the gravel road. I don't think he's overdosed yet...
And never be afraid to ask questions, when I first found BYC I was asking questions all day! People were very patient with me, and believe me, that had to be hard. It's hard to me a new chicken mommy, but you'll get used to it! Take care, and remember, chickens forgive and forget much easier than humans

 

[mechagrue]

Thanks, everyone! I just let them out for the day (it's only 8AM here in Pacific Time). They're totally fine, and I feel more than a little sheepish.

If anyone else finds this thread in the future, I had read about chickens "gorging themselves on grit." I guess what you would do if that happened is try to flush the crop. Here's the link someone posted elsewhere on BYC, which has step-by-step instructions:

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/ImpactedCrop_OldWay.html

And if you future person are worried - 1/4c grit per chicken does not result in an impacted crop.