When to feed grit

[jcc1170]

When do I start adding grit to my chicks diet and how much how often? Just got some chick grit with probiotics. They are just under 3 weeks old.

 

[rosemarysugar]

Start giving grit when you start feeding them things other then there normal feed.Like grass,scratch,mealworms..ect.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The very first thing that needs to go over a new chicks tongue and into its craw is grit. The next time that you hatch off or buy a new batch of peeps try this little experiment. Put about 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon full of chick grit on a clean piece of cardboard and set the cardboard in front of your peeps. You will not need to do anything else because the peeps instinctive pecking response will kick in and before you can say "Jack Robinson" all your peeps will be standing in the middle of your piece of cardboard picking up chick grit while scratching the remaining grit around like baby chicken fiends looking for the choicest bits of grit.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Directions on bag of Chick Grit says to offer at 2 weeks of age.
My chicks got nothing but Start and Grow feed in their gizzard, till I put them outhside at 5 1/2 weeks. That's when I offered it. GC

 

[peeper89]

The very first thing that needs to go over a new chicks tongue and into its craw is grit. The next time that you hatch off or buy a new batch of peeps try this little experiment. Put about 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon full of chick grit on a clean piece of cardboard and set the cardboard in front of your peeps. You will not need to do anything else because the peeps instinctive pecking response will kick in and before you can say "Jack Robinson" all your peeps will be standing in the middle of your piece of cardboard picking up chick grit while scratching the remaining grit around like baby chicken fiends looking for the choicest bits of grit.

 

[mosse71]

I've never given grit and been raising poultry for 30 + years. probably some in the feed. i have 4 bantam chicks at 2 weeks old and they're eating mealworms, starter feed and some chia seeds and have no issues. the chia and mealworms are occasional treats.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The very first thing that needs to go over a new chicks tongue and into its craw is grit. ....try this little experiment. Put about 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon full of chick grit on a clean piece of cardboard and set the cardboard in front of your peeps. You will not need to do anything else because the peeps instinctive pecking response will kick in and before you can say "Jack Robinson" all your peeps will be standing in the middle of your piece of cardboard picking up chick grit while scratching the remaining grit around like baby chicken fiends looking for the choicest bits of grit.

Here is another small experiment. Gnash down on a mouth full of whole grains without a tooth in your head and see how well you can chew without any teeth.

Now get out there and get some insoluble grit for your baby chickens.

 

[The Moonshiner]

So what happens to them without it?
Seriously? Get sick? Die? Symptoms of lack of grit?
I've never given grit ever.
I have a lot that free range so sure they find their own.
Chicks in brooders and grow out pens and adults in breeder pens have no real access to any and are only fed crumble food.
Never known to have issue but maybe I have and didn't know it.

 

[mosse71]

like i said above, I've raised poultry fo 30+ years with very few loses and I've never given grit. they get it from the run when i put them out at a month old. i supplement with chia, which is a hard seed and they grow like crazy and digest just fine. the chick starter must have grit in it because I've never had any issues and the birds are content and healthy. my fathers been raising poultry for over 50yrs. and has done the same as me. when i was a kid, we raised 100 meat and 100 layers yearly, with nothing but plain grow and layer feed. only supplement they got was the dirt in the run once they were old enough to go out. adding grit won't hurt but i don't see it as a necessity.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I concur completely with @chickengeorgeto.

Grit helps to develop the gizzard. I offer grit from day one. Another unintended experiment showed me the importance of grit at an early age. I sold some chicks to a friend and several turned out to be cockerels so I traded her a pullet for a cockerel from the same hatch. I didn't reintroduce the cockerel to my flock because of quarantine and he ended up having lice. I was butchering some of his hatchmates so I butchered him at the same time. His gizzard was literally half the size of my birds' gizzards. These birds were all the same breed/variety, same line/parentage, same hatch date. The only difference is that my friend doesn't feed grit.

So what happens to them without it?
Seriously? Get sick? Die? Symptoms of lack of grit?
I've never given grit ever.
I have a lot that free range so sure they find their own.
Chicks in brooders and grow out pens and adults in breeder pens have no real access to any and are only fed crumble food.
Never known to have issue but maybe I have and didn't know it.

They will absolutely find their own when free ranging but not all stones are created equal. Clean, angular, hard, sharp material like cherry stone grit is needed to do the job. Originally I didn't worry about grit if birds only ate chicken feed because the grains are already ground but grit in the gizzard breaks it down further. For the last several years, I've been sprinkling a bit of #1 chick grit on their food for the first week and then offer it in a separate container thereafter. I switch to #2 grit at 5 weeks and than #3 (adult grit at 8 or 9 weeks. Chicken, having no hands or teeth, need insoluble grit to break down their food. It would be akin to you swallowing all your food whole. Stomach acid will still break down the food and you'll glean some nutrition from it as it moves through your intestines but not as much as you would if you chewed your food well. Lack of grit could lead to digestive blockage and there will definitely be poorer feed conversion.
Grit is cheap so there's no good reason not to offer it.