What is grit? I think thats what its called anyways....

[lil_chick_chick]

What is grit? I never heard of it til just a few days ago when i got my chicks and i saw somewhere online where someone said to add grit (said it was like gravel) to their food so they can grind up their food, is this true? How and when do i give it to them? right now their just on chick starter and we tossed in some grass in their cage and they were pecking here and there at that but not much, so can someone let me know about grit? Thank You!

 

[speckledhen]

If you feed them anything except chick starter that they have to grind up, like grass, they need grit. Most is ground up granite. If they free range, they probably get enough off the ground. I have a gravel driveway and live on a mtn, so I dont feed grit unless a bird cannot get outside to obtain it for itself. I would not feed long strands of grass-that can impact their crops. They snip off the ends when they eat grass. In fact, I dont' feed chicks anything except starter feed, chopped hardboiled egg and yogurt on occasion.

 

[duckidaho]

They sell "chick grit" and regular sized grit. The regular grit is way to big. You only need it if you are feeding treats, like lettuce etc. We feed it in an extra little feeder. You don't need it if you are feeding regular chick feed.

 

[lil_chick_chick]

will it hurt them if we only gave them a handfull of grass and no grit then? I have no grit at all but they had a hand full of grass for 25 chicks. so it wasnt just one or two eating it, it was a bunch of them so i dont think each chick got that much since it was shared.

 

[speckledhen]

I wouldn't do it again unless you have grit. You really don't want to deal with an impacted crop. They can literally starve to death if that happens and it is not fixed.

 

[lil_chick_chick]

oh i am so scared now, what if its to late? Im really worried now, i wont be giving them no more grass w/out grit, but im so scared that maybe i done messed them up, like i said it was only a handfull, but now im scared!

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

Can you be more specific about "impacted crop" are there symptoms? What do you need to look for? Can it happen with regular chick starter at all?

 

[Judy]

Don't panic. A handful of grass will not kill 25 chicks.

Put some dirt in their brooder, like in a pan, maybe? Our soil is sandy, people around here never heard of grit and you can not buy it locally.... but people put their chicks on the ground and in dirt floor coops and they do fine.

I do offer grit to my hens but it took them months to go through a small bag, maybe 3 or 4 pounds.

 

[hooksetz]

If they can scratch at all in the ground they'll find thier own grit. And you can usually see an impacted craw, it'll be a big lump in their neck, but a hand full of grass shouldn't kill all your chickens you'll have 1 or 2 left.

 

[hooksetz]

Just kidding, trying my luck at the Aprils Fool Day thing, they should be fine, but if they're gonna eat grass let 'em find thier own.