Talk to me about grit

[Ridgerunner]

I'd like to know what grit they are talking about. Kalmbach is a US company so it is probably insoluble grit but I hate to go by "probably". In the UK insoluble grit is granite or rock used to grind food in the gizzard while soluble grit is a calcium source like oyster shell or limestone, two very different kinds of grit. I saw Grit on Kalmbach's Layer feed but not their chick Starter. I don't know what kind of "grit" they mean. Maybe someone could contact them and ask?

When I e-mailed Purina a few years back and asked them about grit, they did not add grit to any of their feed. The only one I've seen that does is Kalmbach (there could be others) but I would not assume any do unless it is listed. And clearly listed and explained at that.

 

[sean_wonder]

hmm…like sourmash for moonshine? Lol that makes sense. i always think of it like chick mash which is basically pulverized. So it’s not pulverized but it is mash.

Kinda, I think more commonly used term for cow feed than chicken feed (bc "mash" is usually pulverized or wet for chickens lol)

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I was flirting with making my own feed and one of the feed store owners was really pushing Kalmbach on me instead. I am trying to avoid buying feed at Tractor Supply so there might be other foods with grit that I can’t remember but it wasn’t one of the main things I was concerned with. I just really looked into the Kalmbach because of his glowing reviews

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I'd like to know what grit they are talking about. Kalmbach is a US company so it is probably insoluble grit but I hate to go by "probably". In the UK insoluble grit is granite or rock used to grind food in the gizzard while soluble grit is a calcium source like oyster shell or limestone, two very different kinds of grit. I saw Grit on Kalmbach's Layer feed but not their chick Starter. I don't know what kind of "grit" they mean. Maybe someone could contact them and ask?

When I e-mailed Purina a few years back and asked them about grit, they did not add grit to any of their feed. The only one I've seen that does is Kalmbach (there could be others) but I would not assume any do unless it is listed. And clearly listed and explained at that.

I am going to ask the feed store guy next time I go in because I am sure he moonlights as a Kalmbach salesman

 

[NatJ]

I was taught in school that a mash feed is one which whole products can be identified in the feed
hmm…like sourmash for moonshine? Lol that makes sense. i always think of it like chick mash which is basically pulverized. So it’s not pulverized but it is mash.

I've got a chicken-raising book from about 1925 that used "mash" as a term for a feed that was all ground up and mixed together. The author fed that along with a mixture of whole grains which they called "scratch." The mash could be fed wet or dry, but the instructions called for a specific ratio of mash to scratch, which was computed to give the right total balance of nutrients. I thought it was quite interesting, because neither the mash nor the scratch was a complete feed by itself, but the combination of the two was fairly close to the modern "complete" feeds in nutrition.

 

[sean_wonder]

I always thought of mash as a "pulp" of sorts, but then I remember one professor saying it's a feed where whole foods can be identified. So IDK. Mash being pulverized makes way more sense imo

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have also seen “Corn Distillers Dried Grains” on a couple (Dumor Layer Pellets for example) and thought that was interesting too. I feel like I have accidentally hijacked this thread now. My apologies!

 

[sean_wonder]

I feel like I have accidentally hijacked this thread now. My apologies!

Same!

 

[NatJ]

I always thought of mash as a "pulp" of sorts, but then I remember one professor saying it's a feed where whole foods can be identified. So IDK. Mash being pulverized makes way more sense imo

I wonder if this is a matter of different meanings in different situations.
For example:

1. a soft, pulpy mass.
2. a pulpy condition.
3. a mixture of boiled grain, bran, meal, etc., fed warm to horses and cattle.
4. crushed malt or meal of grain mixed with hot water to form wort.
5. British Slang. mashed potatoes.

From here: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mash

(And that's not including the verb definitions, like "to mash potatoes" being to squish them up.)

So if your professor was talking about "mash" for any other animal rather than chickens, it could have a different meaning there. Or if it wasn't for animal feed, even more opportunities for other meanings.

 

[nuthatched]

Hen house Reserve is neither but it does have pellets in it.

So a certain whole grain mash has it, but your average pellet or crumble won't.