"True Grit"

"True Grit" with John Wayne is not part of this True Grit episode...

Many many people have asked me what is grit? No, we are not speaking about grits which, by the way, if you have not had Cheesy Shrimp & Grits you're missing out. Of course, the grits have to be cooked just right.

I am amazed how many chicken lovers are not feeding, nor do they know anything about chicken grit. Some have been very lucky not to ever have had a problem, but others now see why a chicken may die for no apparent reason. Grit is not some fancy extra thing people try to get you to buy. Grit actually will save you money!

Your chickens and chicks will be able to digest their food so much better. You may ask, why do I need to worry about making digestion easier if it is going to cost more money? If the chickens are able to digest better then the food they eat can be absorbed more easily.

By absorbing more nutrients that is in the feed the chickens will eat less, poop less, have less disease and be much happier and healthier. So as you can see, you will spend less money on feed and less money treating different diseases.

Now, some will say I do not feed grit to my chickens until they start laying eggs. Grit has very little to do with eggs. It's all about being able to easily digest the nutrients. The feed has been broken up in the gizzard by the grit that is stored there. A guestion I might ask is, why do you feed it to your adult chickens and not to the chicks as they are growing up?

The Answer to the above question is simple, we should feed chicks grit for the same reason as we feed it to the adult birds. In fact, a very well known authority on Poultry Nutrition, Jeff Mattocks, says it may even be more important to feed your chicks as they are growing up grit than the adults, But then he says its not true, the chicks and adults both need real Grit. 

Why do I keep bringing up true grit? Another myth is that you can feed calcium in a grit size chunk and now your killing two birds with one stone. Ha, Ha! We laugh, but yes, you are not doing your chickens or yourself any favors taking short cuts when it comes to feeding True Grit.

True Grit is insoluble. Calcium grit is soluble and dissolves much too easy to take the place of true grit made out of granite, yes granite (the rock).

So why does Bresse Star Chick Hatchery sell 4 sizes of grit?

Chicks and Chickens need the proper size grit for the size of bird you are feeding. If we fed chicken grit to chicks they could not swallow it nor would they eat it since it was too big. So, can we feed chick grit to a chicken? Yes, but it does not do very much, if anything at all. The chickens just swallow it and it goes into the gizzard and is pooped right out. It may stay in the gizzard a little bit but the chickens know they will need to eat a lot of it for it to help them, so they do. Even then it does not break down the feed properly so that the chicken is able to absorb the nutrients they need.

We carry 4 sizes of Grit.

A starter chick grit, which you start offering about 3 days into them starting on feed. Offer the chicks grit for 2 full weeks. Then move into the Grower Grit, which you feed to the chicks at the beginning of the 3rd week thru the 6th week. Then, starting the 7th week on you would feed them the Developer/Layer Grit. The 4th size grit we carry we have not found that the local feed stores even carry it. It is Turkey Grit. Most people who raise turkeys feed the layer grit that is made for chickens which is right until the turkeys are about 9 to 10 weeks old. It is said that grit could be a savings of 20+% on your feed bill. It can increase egg production between 5 and 10 %. Your chickens will thank you by being happier and healthier and more resistant to disease.

It's a win win when using true Grit!

Enjoy these fun short videos about Grit.

https://editor.ueni.com/short-video-s-we-hope-you-enjoy/intro-to-poultry-grit-the-teeth-of-the-chicken-167761

https://editor.ueni.com/short-video-s-we-hope-you-enjoy/true-grit-myth-vs-fact-part-b-167762