What is grit?

[Glide09]

I just purchased my first two chickens after years of wanting some. I have 2 four month old while silkies (as pets) and I love them. I've been reading up on caring for them I it mentions having grit and being new to this I have no idea what that means.

 

[RickiHupp]

Grit is very tiny ground up gravel and sometimes oyster shell. Its really good for chickens because when they peck at it and swallow it it stays in their crop (a place that food settles and gets ground up before it moves into the stomach) while in the crop its helps ground up the food that chickens eat so that they can digest them

 

[Glide09]

Thanks that helps. Can I but Grit?

 

[RickiHupp]

Well you cant actually "but" grit

BUT you can buy it

At any local feed store or TSC, something like that.

 

[Imp]

And yes you can buy grit at the feedstore.

Imp

 

[elmo]

Birds like chickens need to keep small stones in their gizzards to help grind up their food. The crop is actually a different part of their digestive system; it's an expandable pouch that you can sometimes see and feel on the right side of your chicken's chest. Think of it as kind of a grocery bag that they can use to store food before beginning to digest it.

There are two kinds of grit: soluble, and insoluble. Insoluble grit is usually small granite stones or chips. This is the kind the bird stores in its gizzard for grinding up food.

Insoluble grit would be oyster shell. This kind of grit would not be useful to help grind up food because it dissolves in the bird's digestive system. Many people offer oyster shell as a calcium supplement to help their hens develop strong eggshells. However, you should not supply only oyster shell to your birds without supplying insoluble grit, too.