Talk to me about grit

[BlindLemonChicken]

Mash->fermented feed->sourmash->moonshine
I think I am onto something…and I will shut up now haha

 

[sean_wonder]

a mixture of boiled grain, bran, meal, etc., fed warm to horses and cattle.

This definition ^

So if your professor was talking about "mash" for any other animal rather than chickens

Yeah, it's for cows but I have heard it used for chickens.
I'll stop dragging this out though lol I prefer the normal definition of mash

 

[sean_wonder]

Mash->fermented feed->sourmash->moonshine
I think I am onto something…and I will shut up now haha

Ooooo I could get with that xD

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Offering sand as grit is not great, it's too fine to really serve that purpose.

Your chicks live outside so they'll naturally pick up little pebbles and things as they peck around. Do you feed pellets or crumble?

It depends on what kind of sand you get. We get some for concrete/cement mixes and it has larger pebbles and rocks mixed in. Not find play sand. And in a pinch it works.

 

[sean_wonder]

cement mixes

Wouldn't that risk hardening in their crop?

 

[newchickmomma3-2025]

Wouldn't that risk hardening in their crop?

It's not the actual cement. It is called construction sand. The mix has sand and pebbles etc. It can be an additive for cement to make your preferred consistency etc.

 

[Demarvell]

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?

My local Mill and Elevator place that sold me my chicks, 2 years ago and again the first of April said; Just use grit for the new chicks until they can get to the dirt. Then they won't have problems. And this guy has been advising for well over 40 years. I followed his advice on most everything and have never had a problem! i use grit because the chicks are on a brooder and not on the ground.

 

[Raubkatze]

@BlindLemonChicken whaaaat no way, since when have they been including grit in feed?? Is that a crumble or pelleted formula?

Chickhouse Reserve also has grit in it.

I ended up buying Chickhouse Reserve and am offering it to the chicks in a bowl as a treate along with some meal worms. It also contains freeze dried pieces of corn, peas, and some kinds of seeds. Of course they all picked out the veggies and seeds almost immediately. But it does make me feel better that they are getting some grit for all the grass I am seeing them eat within the last two days or so. They haven't seem to have figured out getting down to the dirt to look for bugs or root around yet.

 

[Raubkatze]

My local Mill and Elevator place that sold me my chicks, 2 years ago and again the first of April said; Just use grit for the new chicks until they can get to the dirt. Then they won't have problems. And this guy has been advising for well over 40 years. I followed his advice on most everything and have never had a problem! i use grit because the chicks are on a brooder and not on the ground.

This is sort of what I ended up doing. There is still a lot of grass in the run, and they aren't rooting down to the dirt yet. In the last day or two I have noticed many of them starting to really chow down on the grass. I got them Chickhouse Reserve that I am giving them as a supplement to their chick feed, and that contains grit.

 

[Birds4Eli]

I use regular old play sand.