3.6m Omlet Chicken Run for sale, Brand New in Boxes, Milton Keynes (MK19)

[torgrosset]

Does anybody else have a problem with grit? My girls don't seem to like/eat it!!!! I've tried putting grit in it's own hopper/container, but the level never seems to drop. I've also tried mixing it with thier layers pellets but I either end up with a lovely ring of grit around the feeder from where they've thrown it out, or the bottom of the feeder is full of grit and nothing else!!! I don't know if I'm bring concerned over nothing - the hens themselves don't seem to suffer any ill effects and their eggs have a good shell on them. What do you think????

[Nikipins]

I have a similar problem, I bought a big bag of grit for my new chickens last November which I've only used a very small amount of and the container in the coop never seems to be touched. I have had a few soft shelled eggs but I think this is just the girls gearing up to laying otherwise they seem healthy and happy.

[jackian]

Mine too ... Mine don't touch it at all I have tried every way.and have now given up .When I mixed it with their treats there were gaps where the other bits had been and all the grit left in the dish.I hope that when my do FR they get some ...I have tried for 2 years I think that is long enough .

[WitchHazel]

Hi

The grit doesn't make any difference to the quality of the eggshells - oyster shell (calcium) is what affects that.

 

Chickens don't have any teeth, so they need something to help mash up the food they take into their crops. They eat grit or small stones which does this.

 

If they aren't eating the grit then they are probably getting enough elsewhere, especially if they have a bit of free ranging. I always keep a pot of grit (actually mixed grit and oyster shell) in my run, just in case.

 

Hope that helps.

[Chortle Chook]

I'd imagine as WitchHazel says, that they are probably getting what they need from their free ranging However I'd still have some readily available for them in a separate container just in case they should need it - say if the soil content changes with the weather.

[Redwing]

put some in a coop cup with holes drilled for drainage and leave it in the run, if they want it they will take it

 

Suddenly one day you'll see that the level has dropped

 

I bought 20kg of grit when I bought my chickens over 4 years ago and still have over 18kg left easily and numbers here have peaked at over 200

[suebee]

I wouldn't bother adding it to their feed... As you say, they'll just leave it or oust it. They like to pick their own as and when, rather than it being compulsory, in with food (they don't need a lot) As has been said, they may be sourcing it elsewhere.

 

It seems also, that some chooks are put off by a pot of mixed grit. I supply a pot for mine, and they use it regularly, but my last lot never touched it. I had some paving slabs with soil filled gaps between, in their free range area, so I dug the soil out and replaced it with chicken mixed grit. I also had a gravelled patio area, and flung a load of chicken grit in this area too... (its cheap enough)... They loved this apparently natural supply, and I never worried again.

[Mrs_B]

Like others have said, they are probably getting what they need from somewhere else

 

I thought the same not long ago - but after I covered the soil in their runs with weed sheeting/turf protector to stop the woodchip getting so muddy, I then noticed the grit going down (so I was certain they were digging and finding what they needed in the ground). As long as you have mixed grit available in something like a pot or scattered around as was suggested above, then they'll take grit as and when they need it.

 

I do find my columbine seems to eat an awful lot more than the other girls though

 

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[torgrosset]

Thanks for the replies! I should have said it's mixed grit - the type with oyster shell in it - hence why I mentioned the egg shels, sorry about that!!! I guess they must be getting what they need when they come out of the run.

but after I covered the soil in their runs with weed sheeting/turf protector to stop the woodchip getting so muddy,

Somebody told my hubby about doing this and we're planning to do it in the spring/summer (after the clocks go forwards and we start having a bit more daylight for after work jobs). How do you find it to deal with? I'm fed up with a smelly horrendous muddy woodchip mess for a run after this winter and I don't really want to lay slabs. My hubby was planning to level the run (again!) and put down the weed control sheet and then lay some plastic lawn protector over the top before adding more woodchip. Somebody told him that it allows drainage still but stops the woodchip mixing with the mud, so keeps the run much more manageable.

[Mrs_B]

Thanks for the replies! I should have said it's mixed grit - the type with oyster shell in it - hence why I mentioned the egg shels, sorry about that!!! I guess they must be getting what they need when they come out of the run.

but after I covered the soil in their runs with weed sheeting/turf protector to stop the woodchip getting so muddy,

Somebody told my hubby about doing this and we're planning to do it in the spring/summer (after the clocks go forwards and we start having a bit more daylight for after work jobs). How do you find it to deal with? I'm fed up with a smelly horrendous muddy woodchip mess for a run after this winter and I don't really want to lay slabs. My hubby was planning to level the run (again!) and put down the weed control sheet and then lay some plastic lawn protector over the top before adding more woodchip. Somebody told him that it allows drainage still but stops the woodchip mixing with the mud, so keeps the run much more manageable.

 

I find it works really well, and certainly gets the right result. It was just horrendous before, I'd never put woodchip onto mud again! If there's going to be a big downpour over night, I take the covers off to allow the chips to be 'washed' otherwise I use Stalosan/Diatom once a week, and Virkon once a month. If you can't take covers off, a hose pipe will do the job - this is to clean poop and any dirt etc that's got into the area I 'muck out' and change the chips once every 6 months. I followed Newland Poultry's instructions:

 

http://www.newlandgrange.com/CHICKEN-RUN-MUD-MANAGEMENT(1720020).htm

 

In the next month or so I will be getting a new WIR and I will be doing the same method there as well!

 

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