Uh oh, how bad is smooth grit for young chicks?

[saysfaa]

The chicks are one week old. I have them a clod of dirt yesterday to play on. It was mostly dirt and roots but had a some green grass. I don't think they ate much but I thought I better give them access to grit in case they ate some.

My farm is sand and I plan to give them that to pick grit out of. But our yard here is loam -no sand except where the well was dug but that is extremely fine sand with no larger grains in it. I'm not going to the farm in the next few days. So I got some from the beach.

After I gave it to them, I finished the blog I was reading about how big the particals should be - and it said use rough grit, not smooth. So, how important is this? And, it if is really important, how long will it take for smooth grit to wear away enough to not be bad for them?

 

[Chicken poppy]

Im not to sure, i think its fine but rough grit for some better texture, id personally wait til 2 weeks to add rough grit, smooth grit is probably like a dust bath to them so not really grit? Im not to sure. But i dont think its to important

 

[Mellowmalt]

don't worry about the particle size, it is true that the grit should have a bit of size to it otherwise they just poop it straight out so as long as they don't eat too much sand at any time it's fine.
What I'd be more worried about is that sand contains a lot of sea salt and too much salt is bad for chicks. So.. if you wahsed the sand then you will have rinsed most the salt out but if not I'd remove the sand

 

[Chicken poppy]

don't worry about the particle size, it is true that the grit should have a bit of size to it otherwise they just poop it straight out so as long as they don't eat too much sand at any time it's fine.
What I'd be more worried about is that sand contains a lot of sea salt and too much salt is bad for chicks. So.. if you wahsed the sand then you will have rinsed most the salt out but if not I'd remove the sand

Oh true, that is a good point

 

[therandomhatcher]

I wouldn't imagine that grit being rounded and not rough could be too bad. If a chicken ever goes broody while free-ranging I'm sure the chicks will eat a little bit of stuff that we think isn't the best for them. Instinct tells them what will hurt them badly.

 

[saysfaa]

Thank you! No salt, we are Great Lakes.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It shouldn't hurt them but likely won't remain in the system as long (nor be as effective) as sharper, rougher grit. So likely they'll just poop it out in near future.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If they are eating the grass on that dirt clod they definitely need some appropriate grit or you are going to have problems. Also, how long is the grass? If it is very long it could cause blockages in their crops and that could be very bad, even deadly. That worries me a lot more than the sand. Chop it up fine and get them some grit. Better yet, take it away until they are older and you have the right kind of grit.

 

[saysfaa]

Thank you both.

It is a relief that they will just poop it out quickly if is too smooth. I was envisioning them not able to take rough grit because the smooth was in the way. But rough would be worn smooth was it worked, wouldn't it?

I don't want them to eat the grass, this or any grass, yet. This grass was particularily big and tough and I put it root side up; very little showed at the edges. They mostly climbed on it. They scratched at it a little but didn't get down as far as the green. I took the visible worms and bugs out but there is probably smaller things in it. And root hairs. They are getting noticeably stronger every day. i'll give them something else today, aged wood debris probably, or big rocks.

I want to give them a little exposure to the local microbes and give them something to do besides peck at each otherAfter I put it in, I thought it would be bad it they managed to eat any of it without having grit.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you both.

It is a relief that they will just poop it out quickly if is too smooth. I was envisioning them not able to take rough grit because the smooth was in the way. But rough would be worn smooth was it worked, wouldn't it?

Yes. Same with adult chickens, they'll poop out grit once it gets too worn down or small for use. You'll probably never see it unless you're into sifting through chicken poop.