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Heard a vet in Asheville say something about chicken grit that made me rethink my whole setup

She was telling a client that if you feed a lot of greens or scratch, you need more grit than the little bit in the feed bag. She said for her own flock of 12, she goes through a 50 pound bag of granite grit every six months. I checked my own grit tub and it was almost empty, so I guess my girls have been running on fumes. How often do you all actually top up the grit station?
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3 Comments
kelly.daniel
kelly.daniel21d agoMost Upvoted
Remember reading an old poultry book that called grit the forgotten helper. It pointed out that birds without enough grit are basically wasting some of their feed. I keep a coffee can full of oyster shell next to the grit now so they can pick what they need.
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jenniferb53
Good point about the grit, but oyster shell is actually for calcium, not digestion. They need both. @mia52 is right about keeping the grit topped up.
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mia52
mia5221d ago
I had the same wake-up call last year when my hens started looking rough. Now I refill their grit hopper every two weeks without fail, and their digestion is way better. How big is your flock right now?
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