# poultry grit



## solly (Jul 18, 2005)

My son went to get my pigeon food for me...as they had no pigeon grit he bought poultry grit...some pieces in it are quite large...is it okay for the pigeons???will they just leave the large bits or could they get stuck??


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

you would want to get the right approriate size grit for the size of the birds.


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## abluechipstock (Nov 26, 2010)

They can handle poultry grit fine.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I've seen poultry oyster shell and it does have some really big pieces in it. I wouldn't give them those big pieces. They make different grit sizes for different birds. There's a reason for that.


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## pigeon-lover0 (Apr 1, 2012)

Ask them if they have a size that works for pigeons/small birds. Thats all you have to do.
Lucas


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## abluechipstock (Nov 26, 2010)

it should be insoluble poultry grit, usually granite, i get it at tsc and it's fine for pigeons, my portuguese eat it like crazy. oyster shell will not help with digestion, i do ad oyster shell/coral calcium in breeding season because of the calcium in takes to make egg shells


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## solly (Jul 18, 2005)

thanks for all your answers


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

abluechipstock said:


> it should be insoluble poultry grit, usually granite, i get it at tsc and it's fine for pigeons, my portuguese eat it like crazy. oyster shell will not help with digestion, i do ad oyster shell/coral calcium in breeding season because of the calcium in takes to make egg shells


I know oyster shell will not help with digestion. I'm just saying the size difference is quite a bit. One of our members once said that she had a pigeon choke on a large piece of it. The large grit could do the same. Not impossible to find pigeon grit, and well worth the trouble.


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## GEMcC5150 (Oct 24, 2010)

Jay3 said:


> I know oyster shell will not help with digestion. I'm just saying the size difference is quite a bit. One of our members once said that she had a pigeon choke on a large piece of it. The large grit could do the same. Not impossible to find pigeon grit, and well worth the trouble.


Jay that becouse you are in the US where you can get everything but your statment " Not impossible to find pigeon grit" does not hold true for other parts of the world. I was just talking with a new breader on mainland mexico and he can only get chicken feed and no grit so ih having to sift river sand. I import grit from the us twice a year so try and give the best answer you can and not guest say you can get it becouse some on this board CAN NOT.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

GEMcC5150 said:


> Jay that becouse you are in the US where you can get everything but your statment " Not impossible to find pigeon grit" does not hold true for other parts of the world. I was just talking with a new breader on mainland mexico and he can only get chicken feed and no grit so ih having to sift river sand. I import grit from the us twice a year so try and give the best answer you can and not guest say you can get it becouse some on this board CAN NOT.



Well if that is the case then I stand corrected. I didn't realize that. Thank you for that info. Guess we're spoiled around here and don't realize how difficult some of these common things are to get in some places.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

one simple solution is to let them fly out and pick their own.. ferals do it all the time and so do morning doves. IMO I think grit is a bit overrated..but they do need it at times. I find the calcium of more importance. I was told by a very knowlegable bird person that my cockatiels did not even need grit.. need to ask my vet about it...hmmm.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

spirit wings said:


> one simple solution is to let them fly out and pick their own.. ferals do it all the time and so do morning doves. IMO I think grit is a bit overrated..but they do need it at times. I find the calcium of more importance. I was told by a very knowlegable bird person that my cockatiels did not even need grit.. need to ask my vet about it...hmmm.



That's because cockatiels shell seed before eating it. They are now saying that birds that do that don't need grit, and the birds that eat shell and all do need it to help them digest it.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Jay3 said:


> That's because cockatiels shell seed before eating it. They are now saying that birds that do that don't need grit, and the birds that eat shell and all do need it to help them digest it.


I just asked..lol.. and that is what she said, hookbills do not need to have grit.. but soft bills should, but not excessive as it can cause digestive problems. 

My pigeons have red pigeon grit and it is a good size for them..anything bigger and it would be useless..they also pick up sand outdoors when they are pretenting to be feral pigeons.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

spirit wings said:


> I just asked..lol.. and that is what she said, hookbills do not need to have grit.. but soft bills should, but not excessive as it can cause digestive problems.
> 
> My pigeons have red pigeon grit and it is a good size for them..anything bigger and it would be useless..*they also pick up sand outdoors when they are pretenting to be feral pigeons.*


*
*

That's funny! They must be happy. Best of both worlds.


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## elizaisling (Mar 28, 2012)

I use grit I buy from the pet store where I work. It's made for the more common pet birds but I figure it should work just as well. I use Kaytee High-Cal Grit; used to use Ecotrition Bird Gravel but I didn't like the box it came in, it wouldn't close up properly so if I traveled with it I'd get grit everywhere. Never thought to get pigeon/dove-specific grit for my ringneck. Is there a big difference between the grits other than the size of the pieces?

Oh, and I just read on the back of the jar that you shouldn't give it to birds on pellets. I guess I understand why they wouldn't need it so much, but can it do any harm? Mineral/calcium overload or something?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Well the size of the grit does matter, as if it isn't the right size, it isn't going to help them much. But then yours are on pellets, so that really doesn't matter, does it? Giving them a bit of grit even though they are on pellets isn't going to hurt them.


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## GimpieLover (Dec 18, 2005)

Why does the oyster shell not aid in digestion? Does it break down too fast to work on the seed?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Yes, it's softer.


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