Provide insoluble grit for proper digestion

Offer insoluble poultry grit (small granite chips) in a separate dish if your chickens do not free-range on natural ground. Chickens have no teeth — they swallow food whole and grind it in their gizzard using stored grit. Without grit, they cannot properly digest whole grains, seeds, greens, or kitchen scraps.

Why It Works

The gizzard is a powerful muscular organ that contracts to crush food against the stored grit, breaking it down for nutrient absorption. Free-ranging chickens naturally pick up small stones while foraging, but confined birds on bedding or grass-only runs may not find enough. Without adequate grit, food passes through partially undigested, reducing nutrient uptake and potentially causing crop impaction.

Tips

• Use the correct grit size: chick grit for birds under 8 weeks, adult grit for older birds
• Grit is different from oyster shell — grit grinds food, oyster shell provides calcium; offer both separately
• A small flock of 4–6 hens uses roughly 1 pound of grit per month
• Chickens eating only commercial pellets or crumbles need minimal grit since the feed dissolves readily