Mel (& Paul) Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 I have copied these tips from Noeglu and Lesley-Jean - a good way of giving things to chooks noeglu wrote: If you have chickens of about 1 year old and they have a spell of not eating enough grit, (like my Henrietta has decided to do and has ended up laying a few soft shelled eggs). You should save some leftover mashed potato and mix in a few medecine spoonfuls of grit in it. Then get the culprut on her own and give the the others some distraction feed. And she will eat it and get grit into her system. It seems to work, as I did this yesterday with Henrietta and she thought it was just normal mash. Lesley Jean wrote: I find you can feed your hens all sorts of benificial things in some porridgey mash made from pellets/potatoe/oats etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Wow! I feel honoured about this! It really does work though as Henrietta my year old Black Rock started to lay softies last week then laid 2 proper ones by herself and then another softie which broke on the floor of there house. Since I gave her the grit mix she's laid two hard eggs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Man Banned Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 I have put a small ramekin dish with grit in just inside the run and saw Margot helping herself to some grit all by herself - she couldn't be bothered with rummaging through the garden! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted June 1, 2006 Author Share Posted June 1, 2006 She sounds like our dear departed Margot"Well REALLY Jerry" - she was far too posh to go rumaging around the garden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara.F Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 aaaahhh! I've been worrying that mine won't touch the grit and crushed oyster shell I put down for them! I'll try this tomorrow, Thanks for the tip, Tara. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightworker01 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 How big/small can the grit be for normal feeding etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 It can be quite tiny - I have bantams, so I get pigeon/cage bird grit, which is about 1mm. That helps with their digestion, then I give baked, crushed eggshells for calcium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightworker01 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Great, because I want to get a Silkie... How do you bake the egg shells? Do you just pop them in the middle of the oven on a tray at Gas Mark 6 for 30 minutes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley-Jean Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 5-10 mins will do, then crush them up with a rolling pin (I us my coffee grinder don't tell OH) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CannyCat Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 5-10 mins will do, then crush them up with a rolling pin (I us my coffee grinder don't tell OH) What gas mark do you use? (6 seems very high!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 I just pop my egg shells in at the bottom of the oven whenever I've already got the oven on for something - just for about 5 minutes or so - it saves wasting the gas, putting the oven on specially! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Burden Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 We got our three a big bag of chicken grit (oyster shells and little stones) they love the little stones but won't even touch the shells! btw: there are two types of grit soluble: the stuff that gets made into eggs. and insoluble: floats around in their belly and grids up food (like roughage) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 i was told by someone on the farm where we bought ours that there is grit in the layers pellets too - is that right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Yes Jak, but some hens need more. Do yours free range at all? If they do, they will probably get enough grit from the ground. I bought a small parrot bowl that clips inside the run with added grit, but i have never seen them touch it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted August 15, 2007 Author Share Posted August 15, 2007 That's cos its a parrot bowl and the chickens dont want to be rude in using someone else's bowl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 No, ours don't free range - we have sprinkled extra in the grass in their run but they don't seem that interested. Have just baked 3 eggshells and sprinkled on their pellets. I hope I don't have to keep doing that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted August 15, 2007 Author Share Posted August 15, 2007 Grit is so they can "digest" their food in their crop. Eggshells (or oyster shell) is good for the hardness of shells. You might find that they do pick up the grit as and when and you may not realise how much they are taking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Grit is needed to help them digest food, baked egg shells gives them extra calcium for shell production. You can buy mixed grit with oyster shell (for calcium) preprepared that some people leave in a dish in the run. If you girls look healthy and lay hard shelled eggs, i wouldn't worry to much about adding extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted August 15, 2007 Author Share Posted August 15, 2007 ooh eck synchronised posting great minds think alike eh Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Looks like the grit I am giving them has a mix of stuff in it - they gave me it at the farm when I bought them. They have turned their beaks up at a separate container of it though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James H Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 havent had any probelms regarding grit yet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted September 4, 2007 Author Share Posted September 4, 2007 Smarty pants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lianne Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 I get really brittle shells from my girls and have tried oyster shell (they spit it out ). Will try the mashed potato method though! They LOVE pasta and I have tried mixing it with that. But the shell is left in the bottom. I must say I didn't realise that they could eat whole potatoes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 I get really brittle shells from my girls and have tried oyster shell (they spit it out ). Will try the mashed potato method though! They LOVE pasta and I have tried mixing it with that. But the shell is left in the bottom. I must say I didn't realise that they could eat whole potatoes! Give them Limestone Flour. It does the trick beautifully. It is powdered calcium carbonate...available at equine suppliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
