[HesterF]

I've got three week old chicks with a broody. I was thinking about when to try them with grain and realised they'd need grit first. So when to start on grit and grain? I'm guessing if they were scratching around a farmyard, they'd already be there!

H

[chrismahon]

Over here you can get chick grain and chick grit. Much smaller pieces so it doesn't cause a blockage. Guess you could sieve the standard stuff to reduce the size HesterF.

[graham-j]

Hi,you can get it over hear but I just give mine sharp sand they love it and its cheep.
You can't grade normal chicken grit it is already graded.

Graham.

[HesterF]

OK, should have tried some sand. They're in a run on grass and mum is pretty keen on digging it up even though it's moved daily so chances are they've picked up some naturally anyway. I've given them a normal bowl of grit & oyster shell now in the hope they might pick out the small pieces - I don't imagine they'll try and eat the big bits, just ignore them. I'll try and add some sand tomorrow (if I can find some).

By the way Graham is it really cold and windy with you at the moment? I keep watching the weather forecast and it's showing lots of sun and record highs but we've still got a really strong, really cold wind here so I'm still in jumper and coat. Not sure what's going on but I'm feeling left out - particularly as we have a four year old birthday party here on Sunday and I need them all outside running round the garden (without shivering).

H

[graham-j]

Hi,yes I agree with you about the weather, its pretty chilly out there,I was going to move some more gosling's up to the orchard today but i'm not so sure now or though its a pretty shielded spot.
Just remember thats sharp sand not ordinary sand,I tend to put it in a bucket half full of clean water swash it round with a stick,then let it settle for a minuet and tip off the water.This cleans the sand and if you don't let it settle to long removes the really fine stuff.

Graham.

[chrismahon]

Went into the grit bucket yesterday and found the sieve I used last year to get small grit out for the chicks -the net wrapper from some oranges. I probably used the same wrapper on the mixed corn. The squares of the mesh are about 3mm across.