Grit 101: Why Your Chickens Need It and How to Offer It
Kourtney DubayShare
If your chickens eat anything other than commercial pellets or crumbles, they need grit. It's that simple — and that important.
What Is Grit?
Grit is small, hard particles — typically crushed granite or cherry stone — that chickens swallow and store in their gizzard. The gizzard is a muscular organ that acts as a chicken's “teeth,” grinding food into digestible pieces. Without grit, that grinding can't happen effectively, and feed passes through without being fully absorbed.
Think of grit as the engine that makes digestion work.
Why Chickens Need Grit
Chickens don't have teeth. They can't chew. So when they eat anything with texture — scratch grains, whole seeds, grass, bugs, kitchen scraps, or foraged material — their gizzard has to do all the mechanical work of breaking it down. Grit is what gives the gizzard the abrasive surface it needs to do that job.
Without adequate grit:
- Feed passes through partially undigested
- Nutrient absorption drops
- Birds may lose weight despite eating well
- Impacted crop or gizzard can develop in severe cases
With grit available free-choice:
- Digestion is efficient and complete
- Birds can safely eat a varied diet including treats and foraged material
- Gizzard health is maintained naturally
Do All Chickens Need Grit?
Not always — but usually yes.
- Birds fed only commercial pellets or crumbles in a confined setting technically don't need supplemental grit, because the feed is already ground fine enough to digest without it. That said, offering grit free-choice is still a good practice.
- Birds that free-range pick up natural grit from the ground — small pebbles, coarse sand, and stone particles. They may not need supplemental grit if they have consistent access to natural ground.
- Birds that eat anything beyond their base feed — scratch, mealworms, treats, kitchen scraps, grass, bugs — absolutely need grit available. No exceptions.
When in doubt, offer it. Chickens self-regulate their grit intake and won't consume more than they need.
Two Types of Grit: Choosing the Right Size
Grit comes in different sizes for different birds. Using the wrong size is ineffective — too large and young birds can't swallow it; too small and it won't provide adequate grinding for adult birds.
🛒 Shop It: Grit
- Adult Poultry & Chicken Grit, 10 lbs. — $7.50 — Cherry stone grit, #2 size (3/16” average). The right size for adult chickens, ducks, geese, and game birds. Hard, clean, and effective.
- Baby Chick / Small Bird Grit, 10 lbs. — $7.50 — #1 size (1/16” average). Sized for young chicks, small game birds, and quail. Introduce as soon as chicks start eating anything beyond starter crumble.
Grit vs. Oyster Shell: What’s the Difference?
This is one of the most common points of confusion for new flock keepers — and it matters.
| Grit | Oyster Shell | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Digestion (grinding food in the gizzard) | Calcium supplement (eggshell production) |
| Who needs it | All birds that eat anything beyond pellets | Laying hens only |
| Soluble? | No — stays in the gizzard | Yes — dissolves and is absorbed |
| Interchangeable? | No | No |
Oyster shell cannot replace grit. It dissolves too quickly to provide the grinding action the gizzard needs. And grit cannot replace oyster shell — it provides no calcium. They serve completely different functions and should both be offered free-choice to laying hens.
How to Offer Grit
Free-choice is the gold standard. Place grit in a small separate dish or feeder and let your birds take what they need. They're remarkably good at self-regulating — they'll consume more when eating a varied diet and less when eating primarily pellets.
A few practical tips:
- Keep it dry — wet grit clumps and becomes less accessible. Use a covered dish or position it under a roof in the run.
- Refresh monthly — top up the dish regularly so birds always have access.
- Introduce early — as soon as chicks start eating anything other than starter crumble, offer chick grit alongside it in a separate dish.
- Don't mix with feed — grit mixed into feed can cause birds to over-consume it. Separate dishes give them control.
Species Notes
- Ducks & Geese: Need grit just like chickens — especially important since waterfowl often eat a lot of foraged material. Use adult-size grit for mature birds.
- Game Birds (Turkeys, Pheasants, Quail): All need grit. Quail and young game birds should start on chick/small bird grit given their smaller size.
The Bottom Line
Grit is one of the cheapest, easiest things you can do for your flock's health — and one of the most overlooked. A $7.50 bag lasts a small flock months. Keep it available, keep it dry, and let your birds do the rest.
Shop grit and all your flock essentials at Bloomington Farm & Feed →