please give me the chicken basics:)

[aliannabadeaux]

do my hens really need grit and oyster shells? if so would y'all mind recommending some brands for me? and also feel free to list some things you wish someone would've told you when you first got chickens. i'm a new owner and i want to give my girls lots of activities to do and keep them healthy. (one more thing sorry, what's bedding do y'all use in your coop and run? i had to cover the bottoms of mine with chicken wire for predators and need to cover it so their feet don't get stuck!)

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

You should supply insoluble grit and oyster shells to your hens. I personally live very close to an oyster factory so back when I still had grown hens I would just take a burlap sack and ask them for old oyster shells. Then I would crush them with a hammer and give a bowl to my hens. For insoluble grit I would buy Purina poultry grit as I get their chick grit and it works perfectly.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Oh and I use pine shavings

 

[Acre4Me]

Grit is usually granite. It acts like their “teeth” in their gizzard. Grit “chews” their food for them. If they only ever lived inside and ate nothing but pelleted feed, they would not need grit. But, when eating bugs, grains, frogs, etc, they need grit. Since your chickens will eat things beside pelleted feed, buy grit that is granite. A feed store will sell chick grit and regular grit. They are just different sized crushed granite.

Oyster shell is sold in feed stores too.

I use pine shavings in the coop, and chipped wood of various sizes in the run.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes they need grit and some form of calcium once they lay. Brands don't really matter... grit is simply rock (usually granite) and I just get whatever oyster shell is available.

I use wood chips in the coop and deep litter in run, because free and free.

Also hate to break it to you but chicken wire isn't predator proof, so I'd really consider taking it out as it won't keep rodents out, while also is a risk to chicken feet.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Yes they need grit and some form of calcium once they lay. Brands don't really matter... grit is simply rock (usually granite) and I just get whatever oyster shell is available.

I use wood chips in the coop and deep litter in run, because free and free.

Also hate to break it to you but chicken wire isn't predator proof, so I'd really consider taking it out as it won't keep rodents out, while also is a risk to chicken feet.

Yeah chicken wire isn’t actually all that effective in protecting chickens. Sure it will keep chickens out of an area but it won’t do anything about predators coming in.

 

[Ridgerunner]

do my hens really need grit and oyster shells? if so would y'all mind recommending some brands for me?

Chickens do not have teeth but they can eat things that need to be chewed up. They eat small rocks that are stored in their gizzard to grind these things up. They can get rocks for soil if they have access to soil, provided your soil has rocks in it. They can use practically any rocks but the harder it is the longer it lasts. This is called "grit" in the US and "insoluble grit" in the UK. Most people don;t need to buy it, but you can get it at a feed store. Most of that is granite, a very hard rock. They sift the wastes from a granite quarry to get the correct size and sell that.

A hen that is laying eggs needs extra calcium for her egg shells. If all she eats is Layer feed she should get all the calcium she needs from that. But if she gets treats or forages for some of her food she may not get enough calcium. It's not how much is in one bite, it's the total grams of calcium she eats all day. She can get some calcium from certain plants or creepy crawlies if she forages for them. If your native rock is calcium based like limestone she may get calcium from that. Many of us offer calcium supplements on the side. A popular one is crushed oyster shell, called "soluble grit" in the UK. If your egg shells are thick enough you don't need to offer any calcium supplement.

Brand doe s not matter. What is available?