Talk to me about grit

[Raubkatze]

Every store within a 30 mile radius of me seems to be sold out of chick grit right now. I am assuming this is a side effect of everybody also rushing to get chicks. My chicks are 8.5 weeks old and now living outside. They are mostly still eating their chick food, but I have noticed them starting to nibble on grass, and there was one hilarious moment in which one of them found a worm, zoomies ensued, and worm bits went flying everywhere. I also purchased some meal worms because a few of them have gone a bit feral since moving outside and are a bit of a hassle to corral to put to bed at night. I was hoping I could start training/bribing them to get them to go to bed.

Under all of these circumstances, do they need grit? Do they not need grit? Should I start driving to some of these feed stores that are 30-45 mins away to get grit?

 

[nuthatched]

Do they have access to dirt?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

If they are outside and pecking the dirt they are finding grit. Nine years in and I have never bought grit, its literally in the dirt for free.

 

[Raubkatze]

Do they have access to dirt?

Yes, my run is a mixture of half untreated wood mulch, and half grass.

 

[nuthatched]

Yes, my run is a mixture of half untreated wood mulch, and half grass.

If they have access to dirt that has little pebbles and rocks in it, they can get their own grit.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I bought a bag of grit once almost ten years ago and finally dumped it on the ground because it was collecting dust. There is grit in a lot of commercial feeds as well so I wouldn’t worry. Ironically I actually bought grit yesterday because we are putting down gravel and I want to see if I can discourage the chickens from sifting through that by providing some grit elsewhere lol

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Do you have a grain/feed mill near you? Most of them carry grit and it's usually cheaper than bigger name stores.

Maybe a bag of sand?

It's nice to have some but as others have said if they have dirt, they should be okay.

I just dump some grit in an area and they'll play with it and such, but we also have dirt covered in pine/mulch.

 

[nuthatched]

There is grit in a lot of commercial feeds as well

There is? I've never heard that before, which ones?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

There is? I've never heard that before, which ones?

It would take me a minute to find them because i have been feed browsing in stores not online. But it was news to me as well. I always knew some brands of starter contained grit but I found some others with it and thought that was odd so I made a mental note of it. Hold please lol

 

[BlindLemonChicken]