Poultry grit is an essential feed item for your chicken which enables them to digest their feed. Since chicken do not have teeth, they use grit to grind feed. Without grit, poultry birds cannot properly digest feed.
As a result, poultry grit is an essential part of chicken diet. Although grit is actually not digested, and does not have any nutritional value, chicken need to ingest it for optimal food digestion.
Poultry grit and poultry digestive system
Poultry grit is basically small stones that are ingested by chicken.
Chicken have a unique digestive system that lacks organs for chewing and breaking down food before it is swallowed. As a result, chicken have a special organ that grinds down swallowed food. This organ is referred to as a gizzard.
A poultry gizzard is a stomach or pouch made up of strong muscular lining. It is in the gizzard where poultry birds primarily grind ingested food. Additionally, it is here that ingested grit is kept.
Through muscle contraction and movement, the gizzard grinds food against ingested grit. During this process, the food is broken down and becomes absorbable. Moreover, the irregular grit stones are smoothened over time.
Since finely smoothened grit does not aid in digestion, it is excreted. The chicken ingests additional grit for continued functioning of its digestive system.
Read more about the poultry digestive system.
Types of poultry grit
There 2 types of poultry grit: soluble and insoluble.
Insoluble grit
Insoluble grit consists of stones, flint or granite. As the word suggests, insoluble grit cannot be ground. Rather, it makes food grinding possible in the gizzard. All poultry types need insoluble grit for their so called mechanical digestion.
Soluble grit
Soluble grit on the other hand is a calcium supplement given to hens in order to produce hard and strong shelled eggs. Crushed oysters, limestone and cockle shells are used to make soluble grit.
A lack of soluble grit can result to cage fatigue. Cage fatigue is a condition that results from the depletion of calcium – for the purpose of making egg shells – from the bones making them brittle. Calcium is a crucial element in an egg shell.
Why is poultry grit important
Without grit, your chicken cannot successfully digest food. Even though you may feed them a nutritionally rich and sufficient diet, they cannot digest that food without grit.
Poultry grit therefore, is an essential component in poultry feed. However, insoluble grit does not have any nutritional value and is itself not digested. Starch, protein, minerals, vitamins, fats and oils make up a nutritionally rich poultry feed.
How to provide grit to your chicken
Backyard, and free range chicken will find and ingest grit as they feed. Additionally, you can provide them with grit so that they have sufficient supply for their needs.
Conventional chicken on the other hand have to be provided with grit – usually mixed with their feed – since they have no other way of getting it. In case of layers flocks, their feed have to consist both soluble and insoluble grit.
You can buy poultry grit from your local animal feeds store, or from a feed manufacturer. Mixed grit consisting both soluble and insoluble grits can also be purchased similarly.
Grit size
Poultry grit has to be of a certain size so that it serves its function. Too small grit will pass through the digestive system since it cannot be held in the gizzard.
On the other hand, chicken will not ingest grit that is too large in size. Since chicken, unlike do not have hands with which they can reach into their mouths and pull out stuck grit, they will not grit that is too large to swallow. They cannot even perform a Homeric manoeuvre if the wanted.