# Chicken Grit



## machair (May 8, 2008)

I have been considering a re-do of my one El Natural style tank.
Currently it is capped with some fine second hand eco-complete.

I am looking to replace the eco-complete with something new and inexpensive.

I was thinking chicken grit might work.

Unfortunately, I have never seen any and do not know what sized grains I can acquire.
Does any one have any experience with chicken grit?

Are there any fish that one should avoid with chicken grit? is it sharp?

Thanks Much


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## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

I haven't heard that phrase since I played at my uncles farm. How did you come across it. The grit that I remember would be too small I think compaction may be a problem if it's too deep. Sharpness wouldn't be a problem. IMO


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## tazcat70 (Jun 9, 2009)

As it happens I have chickens.  At a local feed store here they have all sizes of the grit. From slightly larger than sand to 1-1.5" rocks. Your big places like tractor supply will only have small sizes. Usually grit is made of granite.


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## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

tazcat70 said:


> As it happens I have chickens.  At a local feed store here they have all sizes of the grit. From slightly larger than sand to 1-1.5" rocks. Your big places like tractor supply will only have small sizes. Usually grit is made of granite.


I would love to the see chicken that needs the 1-1.5" grit :shock:


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## KraKen (Jul 17, 2008)

Veloth said:


> I would love to the see chicken that needs the 1-1.5" grit :shock:


Probably the same kind as the one that caused this riot, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.kurcawatch.com/images/smalltownriot.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kurcawatch.com/smalltownriot.aspx&usg=__J2uj6YG5LgfJrkKCkdl_i2Ys7m4=&h=296&w=445&sz=71&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=fTVdyTc9CEcehM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgiant%2Bchicken%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dcom.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1


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## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

Thanks for that, it was a welcome start to my day.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

The only 'chicken grit' that I ever bought was oyster shells. This would not be a good choice for a soft water tank, though it might be mixed in with the soil if the soil and water tended to be too soft. 
Oyster shell is available in different sizes from pet stores for caged birds (Budgie size is like sand) on up. It is available powdered as a material to use in horse stalls. 

I would not think of using anything with particles the size of sand as a substitute for soil in a NPT. There is no cationic exchange capacity in particles that large. As a cap, OK, but IME caps and soils end up mixed, so I do not bother.


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## HAJA (Feb 7, 2012)

Chicken grit and oyster shells for chickens are two different things.
The oyster shells are sold as a calcium supplement for the chickens. Calcium is needed for their egg shells. In the aquarium, oyster shells are used to raise the GH.
Chicken grit, on the other hand, is small rocks to aid in chicken digestion. Chickens have a gizzard where food is broken down using a grinding motion with the aid of small rocks. Grit is feed to chickens that do not have freerange access where they can get rocks on their own.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

My soil is low in Ca so I needed to supplement the chickens' diet with a source of Ca. That it was also roughage was fine with me, and fine with the birds. They were sort of free range; I did not turn them out every day, but there were never in tiny cages. The soil area they had access to allthe time was probably so well picked over there were no bits of gravel left. The oyster shell I bought for them was flakes and bits about 1/4" diameter, but there were mixed sizes and shapes in the bag, all the way down to dust.


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