Do your chickens need grit? What is grit anyway? What happens if they don’t get enough grit? All these questions and more are answered in this quick read.
What is chicken grit?
Chicken grit or poultry grit is simply a grinding agent made up of little rocks, stones, and sand that are given to chickens to help their digestion and sometimes to boost their health.
Poultry grit can be bought at feed stores like Tractor Supply or found online. But how do you know if you should buy it for your flock? Do all chickens need it?
Read on to find out!
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How does chicken digestion work?
Chickens don’t have teeth, so they can’t easily crush or mash food while they eat it. This is why chicken’s have a special organ called a gizzard.
Chickens swallow their food whole, or close to whole, and their specialized digestive system “chews” the food for them. After swallowing food, it travels down the esophagus and into the crop, where food collects for up to 12 hours, mixing with digestive enzymes.
The food then travels to the bird’s gizzard, which is a part of the stomach with extremely strong muscles. The gizzard is where most of the grit that chickens eats is stored. The muscles in combination with the small stones and sand, work to grind the food into a paste that’s easy to pass.
It’s really pretty fascinating how bird digestion is so different from that of most other animals!
For more detailed information on chicken digestion, don’t miss this post from Cackle Hatchery!
What’s grit made out of?
Grit is made of small milled stones, usually flint or granite.
Fint grit is insoluble grit, meaning it doesn’t get digested, but it does help with the digestive process.
The chickens swallow these rocks, and they stay in the gizzard, as the gizzard contracts when new food is swallowed, it uses those little rocks to help grind the food. The rocks eventually get ground down enough that they pass through the digestive system.
How is chicken grit different from oyster shell supplements?
Oyster shell supplement is made of, you guessed it, oyster shells! Oyster shells should not be used in place of grit, because while they do aid a bit in digestion, they don’t last in the gizzard as long as grit does.
Grit is offered as an aid to help backyard chickens in their digestion process. Oyster shells, however, are fed as a dietary supplement to give the birds extra calcium if they have a calcium deficiency. This addition to a chicken’s diet can help produce strong eggshells and boost your flock’s health.
Oyster shell is a good source of calcium and it’s available at almost all farm and garden stores. You may want to give your chickens a calcium supplement if you notice their eggs are weak, break easily, or they’re laying eggs with soft shells.
Oyster shell is not absolutely necessary, most layer feed already has plenty of calcium for your flock. Some chicken keepers also choose to save some money and supplement their flock by crushing their own dried eggshells and feeding them back to the flock.
Always offer oyster shell, egg shells, and chicken grit on the side of their regular food, not mixed in. The chickens will eat it if they need it.
How do I feed grit?
Giving grit to your chickens is easy as pie. Simply put out a small bowl of grit next to the chicken feeder and trust that the birds will eat it if they need it. Chickens may not be the smartest creatures on Earth, but they have strong instincts and will take the supplemental grit as needed.
If you want to be a little more fancy, these hanging feeders are great for supplements, as they keep them off the ground which helps to keep them clean!
Make sure grit is always given free choice, and never forced on your chickens. It should not be mixed with their chicken feed or with any treats or scraps you give them from the kitchen. Grit should left out in a bowl that the whole flock has free access to.
What is chick grit?
Chick grit is a starter grit that is the same as layer grit but the stones are broken into much smaller pieces that are easier for baby chicks to swallow. If you’re going to feed grit, it’s important to have the correct grit size for the size of your birds.
Do chicks need chick grit?
Chicks only need chick grit if they’re eating something other than chick feed, such as kitchen scraps, or grasses and plants, and they only need it if they aren’t free ranging outside. Some chicken keepers always have grit available next to their chick crumble.
Personally, I’ve been raising chicks into healthy hens for 13 years and I’ve never, not once, bought or given chick grit. However, I also don’t feed anything but chick crumbles to my baby chicks until they’re fully feathered and out of the brooder, so there isn’t really a true need for chick grit because I’m not asking their little bodies to digest anything that could be challenging.
So no, chicks don’t need grit if they’re only eating chick food. However, it doesn’t ever hurt to have chick grit available. If it makes you feel a little less stress, go for it!
Want more info on feeding baby chicks? This post has tons of great tips!
The Everything Guide to Feeding Baby Chicks
What if they’re being raised by a broody hen?
Chicks being raised by a broody hen that are allowed outside to free range with their mom don’t need grit, their mom will show them how to eat small stones and particles that will give them the grit they need.
I’ve had broody hens that raise chicks and free range, and I’ve trusted that the chicks get their own grit from the great outdoors. Which brings me to the next point!
Do I have to give grit?
The answer to this one depends entirely on how you raise your chickens. If your chickens are confined to a chicken coop and run all the time, then yes, you need to offer grit as they likely can’t find enough of it in the space they have.
If your chickens go out to free range regularly and have the run of your yard or property, then you don’t need to give them grit.
Grit is just tiny rocks, and your yard and property are chock full of tiny rocks and grains of sand that the chickens will gladly swallow while they’re free ranging.
If you worry that they’re not getting the grit they need from free ranging you can always offer it, I usually keep some grit in the coop, especially in winter when the chickens aren’t going out to free range as frequently.
What happens with a lack of grit
A lack of grit can mean illness and even death to your chickens. As mentioned above, grit is an important part of poultry diets, it’s essential for digestion. Digestive issues such as impaction, sour crop, and poor feed conversion resulting in malnourishment can all happen when a chicken doesn’t get enough grit in their diet.
I hope this post has answered all of your burning chicken grit questions, but if you have any more, please do leave a comment and I’ll get back to you with an answer!