Do pigeons need grit?

[mark]

i have a pigeon here he is 15 years old i only give him grit one day a week the rest of the time he just pecks around the garden, he has  access to the garden all day i only lock him up when its windy and he looks a picture,so perhaps you dont need grit everyday. only my opinion though,

[Guest]

BRUNO  if they remain in the gizzard untill they get to small then it must have a consequence when racing ,ie, extra weight no dont try and tell it does nt  through my own experience my own pigeons get very little grit as i stated only when egg laying time comes along and they have survived without it for most of the year ,they are not left to pick about the ground because of hawks in all my time i have only witnessed one being killed and sont want to see it again so they get out to exercise and when finished into the loft straight away i am with them all the time they are out very strict regime i am afraid but that way i will have them untill racing anyway ,but grit as i have stated as far as i am concerned isonly a money making scam comming from so called expert and everybody just stops and thinks for a minute we are the true experts as it us that keep them i have had them fior nigh on forty forty years born into them now no smart ersed colledge kid is going tocome along and tell me qwhta good and no good for ma pigeons cause if i dont know ma cell then i should nt have them ,however i will agree to disagree with you and all i will say is keep up the good work as you put up a lot of valuable information ,cheers sammy

[Guest]

Sammy, we aren't disagreeing. We are both talking about several different things:

 

(1) the grit the birds find for themselves, and the grit we buy for them. Agree if the birds can get out and find their own, then there is no need for us to go out and buy more for them.

 

(2) the grit (wherever it comes from ) is needed by the bird for digestion. Don't see the bird ever taking on a cargo that is going to affect its flying ability ... but you have sparked a memory of old: ... old timers didn't give their birds grit in the days leading up to the race. Always thought that was a prevent-dehydration-in-the-basket thing, but maybe what you say about weight & affect on racing was the real reason they withheld grit?

[jupiter_19630]

I think this is going to run and run. I personally will continue to provide my birds with grit and pickstones. I certainly do not feel conned. It costs a pittance, my birds use and love it, so where is the con?

[Guest TAMMY_1]

I think this is going to run and run. I personally will continue to provide my birds with grit and pickstones. I certainly do not feel conned. It costs a pittance, my birds use and love it, so where is the con?

 

thats what the threads are on for , so they will run and run, dont think sammy means you are being conned literally, think he is saying he feels that we are buying something we do not need  in his opinion only, but i use it as well and i will continue to use grits

[THE FIFER]

yes i think i will continue to give them grit.

[kev01293]

as jupiter says grit and pickstones only cost a pittance so why deprive my pigeons of something that they enjoy and need,  ive read in pigeon books and the fancy press that the vast majority of fanciers use grit and pickstones-surely they cant all be wrong??

[Guest]

Think I'm right in saying there wasn't as much available in 1960's and I don't remember pickstone back then. But I've discovered mine really like crushed clay pickstone, and I wouldn't stop feeding it, even tho I'm not sure what they get from it. And I feed two kinds of grit too. Agree with others, its a 'only best will do' thing.

 

 

[Guest]

years ago when money was a lot tighter all the old biys used to get one of them red bricks and crush it up and the birds ate it and that was the only type of grit they got and they still won ,makes u wonder about it all who is right and who is rang

[drewskitou]

I think most fanciers would say"grit is important to a pigeons diet" Why did I read a post that said it was not even needed? They race with or without it just the same. What is the truth???

[Guest TAMMY_1]

I think most fanciers would say"grit is important to a pigeons diet" Why did I read a post that said it was not even needed? They race with or without it just the same. What is the truth???

 

send a pm to professor Sammy and he will give you his take on it

[Okitsme]

I am sure Timbarra will have something to say about this. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[swilcox]

Give it in small portions but dont let them eat it like food esp the salty red stuff!!

 

Can cause problems esp when feeding young.

 

Stuart

[Guest MBpigeonguy]

i put grit in a small container and its there for the birds 24-7

i was told it verry inmportant

[jimmy white]

pigeons need grit,,, they have a crop [which holds their food] and a gizzard where the grit masticates the food , but there are all sorts of grits.

[Guest]

 

send a pm to professor Sammy and he will give you his take on it

 

every man to his own and if you want to spend ya giro on it so be it ,dafty ;

[Wiley]

myself personally my race team do not recieve any grit or minerals afteer wednesday!

[Guest shadow]

pigeons need grit to grind thier food if you do not provide they will go looking for there own and finish up fielding

[Guest Greig the doo Drysdale]

mine have grit all day every day and I am winning so I wont change it but hey hoe thats just me!!!

[Roland]

Any thing left  - intensionally - for the birds seems to be good, as they know what is what and how much, and when they ned it.... But of course dont know what we have in store for them.

   Never really thought about it, but unless poorly and puffed up etc. I have never ever seen birds  on the natura system, when not flying, chasing another bird... they are picking at any and every thing.

[timbarra]

pigeons do not need grit, grit is made from sea shells, how many pigeons do you see on the beach? if you think grit is the teeth of the pigeon and it needs grit to digest and grind down , well i think god would have given them teeth if that was the case !!

pigeons do not need grit , better to give a handful of moleearth once a week , but do give minerals very important.

 

but like thousands of fanciers if you wanna follow the masses and feed it go ahead and chunck your money down the toilet..... ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Guest]

pigeons do not need grit, grit is made from sea shells, how many pigeons do you see on the beach? if you think grit is the teeth of the pigeon and it needs grit to digest and grind down , well i think god would have given them teeth if that was the case !!

pigeons do not need grit , better to give a handful of moleearth once a week , but do give minerals very important.

 

but like thousands of fanciers if you wanna follow the masses and feed it go ahead and chunck your money down the toilet..... ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

asting ya time and energy mate they wont listen to yi as its full of no alls on here  ;D ;D ;D

[jimmy white]

pigeons need grit to grind thier food if you do not provide they will go looking for there own and finish up fielding

 

put in a nut shell [or oyster shell ;D]    theres one simple way to find out ,is dont give them grit whilst breeding and youll see the outcome yourself ???

[Guest]

 

put in a nut shell [or oyster shell ;D]    theres one simple way to find out ,is dont give them grit whilst breeding and youll see the outcome yourself ???

 

mine aint had grit for the past 5/6 years and there aint nothing wrong with them and yes they are out flying and that is just what they do is fly no picking about the groung or anything like that ,question how does the squeaker get grit ,remember the old bird has to regurgitate it and it has sharp edges ,but as timbarra says if you wont to through ya money down the loo its up to u then  ;D ;D ;D

[Roland]

pigeons do not need grit, grit is made from sea shells, how many pigeons do you see on the beach? if you think grit is the teeth of the pigeon and it needs grit to digest and grind down , well i think god would have given them teeth if that was the case !!

pigeons do not need grit , better to give a handful of moleearth once a week , but do give minerals very important.

 

but like thousands of fanciers if you wanna follow the masses and feed it go ahead and chunck your money down the toilet..... ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

Like I posted ...'when not flying, chasing another bird... they are picking at any and every thing.' By the way Jimmy have never bother with Grit, Calcium etc. for breeding and rarely with Grit... but if contained to the loft, it is more a 'Contentment thing' .... But open up any gizzards of a pigeon and you will fnd qualtz, so ....