Chickens don’t have teeth to chew their food with but they are very good at digesting even the hardest of foods with no issue, the reason behind this is that chickens use grit to break food down.
These birds can be fed a variety of stones as grit, but how about sand? Is sand a form of chicken grit? This article looks into it
Sand can be used as grit for chickens but the correct sized sand needs to be used in order for this to work
Table of Contents
Chicken grit: sand
Chickens digest food differently than humans do, their diet consists of tough foods like cereals (oatmeal, rice, cornmeal, millet), seeds, insects, fruits, and vegetables these, foods are usually ground down by teeth in other animals but chickens don’t have teeth.
This is why they need grit
Grit can be flint or granite milled into small pieces. Once these birds eat the grit, the grit will move into the bird’s gizzard. The gizzard is where food goes to be ground down.
The contracting muscles of the gizzard, and the rough grit in the gizzard, work together to break food down well enough to be absorbed into the bird’s body.
Chickens need to eat grit yearly because the grit itself will be worn down eventually, it won’t be able to help digest foods, and will eventually pass through the bird’s digestive system. So what about something as small as sand? Can it be used as grit? Yes it can
Sand as chicken grit:
Sand is a great grit for chickens, it comes in different particle sizes, it is affordable, and, it is easy to find.
Sand can be made up of a composition of different minerals depending on the rock that it comes from, it can be made out of calcite, micas, pyroxenes, and some quartz.
Sand, like limestone, is low in quarts, and sand, like play sand, is high in quartz. Quarts is only a problem if it is ground small enough that it can be inhaled, it is not harmful if the bird eats it
The best sand to give to your chickens, as grit, is construction sand, bank-run sand, all-purpose sand, or river sand. These sands are medium to coarse.
Medium to coarse sand is still small enough to be used as grit for your birds but not too small that it creates dust that can get into the bird’s respiratory system. You can find a medium to coarse sand at your local gravel company.
The sand that is usually sold at big box stores is simply too finely milled to be fed to chickens as grit.
Grit that is too small will simply pass through the bird and do nothing. This is why picking a coarser sand is best for your bird.
Another reason why giving finely milled sand to your chicken as grit is a bad idea is that this sand can compact in the bird’s crop.
The sand will compact in the bird’s crop until it causes crop impaction.
Crop impaction happens when there is a blockage in the bird’s crop, the mass is so dense and large that nothing (not the mass, not food) can move down the bird’s digestive tract, crop impaction can eventually kill the bird.
Warning about tiny chicks:
Sand can’t be given to very small chicks because it can cause crop impaction very easily. If you want to give sand to baby chickens, only offer them sand two or three days after they hatch.
The baby birds will usually take whatever size is appropriate for them but make sure you only give them sand that will not choke them.
If the bird starts choking, you’d need to dislodge the item. Read how to do that here
Play sand as chicken grit:
You should not be using play sand as chicken grit, you should not be using sandbox sand as chicken grit either. This sand is 100% ground-up quarts and it is very fine.
The downside of ground-up quarts is that it is not good for the bird’s respiratory system, it has lots of dust in it.
Regardless of whether you’re feeding birds this sand as grit, or using it in the coop, this dust can get into the bird’s lungs and cause havoc.
This type of sand should also not be allowed anywhere near small chicks, these little birds will eat this sand and develop an impacted crop because of it
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Chicken Vomiting Water, Egg Peritonitis Natural Treatment, Can You Use Sand For Chicken Grit?, Limestone Grit For Chickens