You might think of poultry grit as false teeth for chickens. It is a mixture of very small pebbles, small pieces of shell, and similar material that you can buy from farm supply shops. Buying chicken grit is necessary if the chicken does not have access to soil that contains very small pebbles or pieces of shell.
Why?
Well, because a chicken's crop needs these ingredients in order to process their foods. Chickens have a beak but no teeth, so they cannot actually chew their food with their mouths. Their only means of grinding is done in the chicken gizzard by using this grit.
A crop is the round, soft bulge at the base of their neck. It is a muscular device in their necks that helps store bits of seed and other foods, which they will digest later by mashing them up in the secondary part of their digestive system, their gizzard. The crop for an average chicken can be approximately the size of a golf ball, however, only about one-third of this will protrude out from the neck. Chickens eat very small pebbles, small pieces of shell, pea sized stones, even grain sized pottery pieces, and other similar materials. All of this goes into their gizzard and helps it mash-up their food as it passes through their digestive tract.
Every fowl requires some form of grit for their gizzard to work properly. Oyster shell that has been broken into smaller pieces can also be given, because it will assist in shell making. However, oyster shell is NOT really hard enough to do both - build stronger shells and provide grit.
The key to good, healthy poultry digestion is to make sure your flock has access to these small pieces of grit so they can properly chew the foods they eat. Poultry grit gives your flock a heavy-duty set of industrial false teeth, which replaces the teeth they don't grow.
Boer Partners Farm Supply Store - Biodiesel Station - Mountain Feed And Farm Supply
Frequently Asked Questions...
Name of metal cap to plug hole where flue pipe was?
A lot of older homes had an oil or wood stove for heat. When they were removed there was a round hole left in the wall where the flue pipe was. They make a metal plug or cap to cover the hole. Some were plain metal and some were painted. Does any one know what these are called? I've been to 2 hardware stores and a farm supply store and no one has them or knows what they are called. If I knew the name I could search for them online. Anyone?
Answer:
they are called stand pipe caps. Some had a spring type retainer on the inside to keep them in place. They are mainly cosmetic as they do not stop the draft that usually is associated with this. If you do find one, consider applying a weather stripping on the edge to help keep out any drafts that might occur. You might want to look for these at antique type salvage stores.
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