. 

🪨 Why Do My Hens Need Chicken Grit?

If you’ve ever wondered whether your hens really need grit, the short answer is: yes, absolutely! Think of grit as your chickens’ secret superpower—it helps them digest their food, stay healthy, and avoid some very nasty problems.

Here’s the kicker: hens don’t have teeth. Instead, they’ve got a built-in food processor called a gizzard—a tough, muscular organ that uses grit to grind down grains, seeds, and fibrous plants. Without grit? Well, let’s just say dinner doesn’t exactly “go down easy.”

🐔 The Nitty Gritty of… Grit

All types of birds, from wild pigeons to your backyard beauties, rely on grit to aid digestion. Without it, hens can’t break down their food properly, which can lead to blockages, illness, or even worse. Yikes.

But not all grit is created equal! There are actually different grades of grit, and each one does something different for your hens.

• Insoluble grit (flint or granite grit): stays in the gizzard to help grind up food.

• Soluble grit (like oyster shell): dissolves in the digestive system and provides calcium for strong eggshells.

So, grit isn’t just about digestion—it’s also about gorgeous, healthy eggs.

🥗 How Grit Works: A Quick Food Journey

Let’s take a little trip with your hen’s lunch:

1. Crop stop 🛒 – After your hen gobbles down some pellets or corn, the food heads into the crop, which is basically her grocery basket. It sits there for a few hours, softening and swelling.

2. True stomach time 🍔 – Next, the food moves into the proventriculus (a fancy word for her “true stomach”), where digestive juices like hydrochloric acid and enzymes get to work.

3. Grind time ⚙️ – Finally, it’s off to the gizzard, the chicken’s personal grinding mill. This is where grit steps in to crush tough seeds, grains, and fibers into bite-sized nutrients. From there, it’s smooth sailing—enzymes can do their job, and nutrients get absorbed into the bloodstream.

🌟 Final Peck of Wisdom

Think of grit as your hens’ best-kept health hack: it keeps their digestive system running like clockwork and helps them lay strong, beautiful eggs. Skip the grit, and you’re asking for trouble.

So yes, your girls need their daily dose of grit—it’s the small stone with a mighty purpose!

Shop our premium quality Oyster Shell Grit