Grit

[swilcox]

Has the benifit of Grit changed over the years???

 

Let me explain, when i was young i was schooled that white grit was placed in lofts to help with the grinding of food in the crop, it also had the benifit of helping develop the egg shell with calcium!! If my memory serves me right grit in the 80s was always white and was normally placed along side a pot of black minerals.Pigeons at that time didnt consume alot of white grit unless ill or feeding young. In fact if you look at dropping from really sick pigeons they often contain grit that had been washed out. Another tip i was given was to remove grit when the birds were feeding big youngsters.

 

Now towards the mid 90s red grit came on the market and it now seems to have totally replaced white grit. Its seem very populor because the birds love it (so the fancier believes it good for them)? Yet has the function of this red grit changed from the white.

 

Its my suspision that pegeons prefer this red grit only due to the salt content and that red grit has now more value to them than the original white grit??

 

This week i tried buying a bag of white grit only to be told it isnt sold anymore buy some stockist, i dont believe they use this red grit so much on the continent??

 

Any thoughts?????

 

Stuart

[maverick]

a lot of the red grit has aniseed in it and the birds love the aniseed

[Wiley]

they sell it in my local pigeon shop, i actually asked today what it was and they said its used mainly for canaries. So i bought my usual i a bag of mixed grit of red and white, and tub of matrix

[swilcox]

Maverick, due you think the makers of this grit have just designed it to be consumed so that more is sold!!!!!

[frank-123]

just to add to your post stuart

i can still get white grit but have been using matrix since  last year dont know whats in it but my birds love it and the  white stuff just is not touched

[Guest WINGS 04]

I THINK YOU CAN GET IT FROM THE KERPATRICK THE SAME AS BLACK MINERILS

[friendsloft]

swicox, i use the red grit like you say the birds go mad for it,if i put grit out the same time as i feed the birds,some will jump down to eat the grit before the corn,so there mucst be something on the grit which makes it soappealing

friendsloft

[swilcox]

My worry is your pigeons should not love grit, its there to balance the digestion system and not be consumed like food!!!

[Guest]

white grit still available up here also , if u need a supply Stu let us know i could direct u on ur way back from Blackpool , (its the same stuff that was around 20 odd years ago )                                              andy 8)

[me]

"a little of what you fancy" is the secret here rotate the grits you give your birds and avoid any potential problems with grit impaction which in extreme cases can even lead to the death of the bird. Red grit is much the same as white grit, which incidentley is still widely available in my neck of the woods. Also using mix grits does no harm but they will resist picking the granite given a choice.

 

Infact you could argue that grits with additives such as aniseed could be useful to encourage hens to eat more when you want them to get more calcuim prior to laying.

[Keepsmilingqueen]

i think kirkpatricks still make white grit or at least they did as of july when i bought my last bag, i have found that the white grit lasts longer compared to the multi coloured stuff, i supply my grit along with a supply of black and pink minerals, incidently my birds seem to love the pink mineral powder and i think iv found out why, its smells gorgeous rather like sherbert  

[THE FIFER]

yes kilpatrick grit is still white( CALCIUM) i like it the best,

[jimmy white]

i used to use the chicken eggs shells under the toaster for about a minute , crunch it up and there you are allmost pure calcium but as far as red grit and white grit , i think one is a sort of ground up sand stone, the,other being oystershell,,, i dont think the birds are that daft and eat what they want or what they need,, the black minerals contain , bleach , beleive it or not, and off course salt , and the pink pinerals contain a touch of aniseed , the amount is not going to effect the birds in any way , just that it smells nice,.watched them mixing the red band , in about a ton in the mixer , theres a very small bottle of aniseed liquid , only added for smell, so theres no differance to conditioner with or without aniseed , but off course redband sells better,, strange how they dont like any grit or minerals if its wet??  

[Guest]

Agree with the original post, used to be ´just´white grit and black minerals.

 

Now theres various mixtures, black & pink mins, and soft and hard grit, grit from different sources including eggshell and marine shells.

 

Soft and hard seems well sold, Wim Peters for one promotes it, soft for assimilation into birds body and hard for grinding grain in gizzard.

 

Again would not buy anything that label didn´t tell me what was in it. Thought red grit was based on reclaimed and broken down building brick for example. Plenty building bricks still available from Chernobyl. Helps birds see better in the dark, carry their own light apparently.  ;D

[Guest beautyhomer]

Pigeons need both types of grit,the white grit to provide calcium for bones and good egg production.But this grit is too soft to grind up their food properly.Therefore a harder flint like grit has to be made available for the birds.If the birds are deprived of one type it will surely be storing up problems for the future.Reading some of the above posts it would seem that some fanciers do not know what the grit they are giving contains other than the birds like it.I would have thought that a good supply of quality grit was just as important as clean water and food and cannot be left to chance.

[THE FIFER]

i have a piece of ground in front of my loft which i scatter grit on, so the birds work for it, but have 3 grits in the loft all the time and pickstones.

[Guest]

i live  beside the beech so my birds like to pick their own grit it does not matter what you put down to them they still head for the beech. i have tried all types of grit and minerals but they prefer the beech so now i dont put any thing down to them

[maverick]

I LIVE AROUD 4-5 MILES FROM THE BEACH BUT GOT AN OLD HEN THAT ONCE PAIRED UP GOES TO THE BEACH EVEY CHANCE SHE GETS I KNOW SHE HAS BEEN BY THE SAND UNDER HER RING.

[maverick]

i live  beside the beech so my birds like to pick their own grit it does not matter what you put down to them they still head for the beech. i have tried all types of grit and minerals but they prefer the beech so now i dont put any thing down to them

 

TRY THIS FERRY GET SOME SAND FROM BEACH PUT IT IN A PAIL AND FILL WITH WATER AND WATCH WHAT COMES OUT OF THE SAND, I HAVE DONE THIS A COUPLE OF TIMES AND EACH TIME OIL APPEARS ON TOP OF THE WATER .

[Guest]

Stu I think your stockist is pulling a fast one, I can always get normal grit, perhaps he's trying to get rid of the red before he gets more normal in?? When I pair the birds up to laying I always give oystershell grit and I'm sure cuttle Rose will have similar excellent, mineral qualities for the production of a quality shell. Once the hens have laid I have found mine aren't keen on the oyster shell and will revert to normla. They do of course prefer the red mineral blocks and pickstones but I think this is because of the 'tasty' additives rather than the quality or benefit of the grit.

(On the theme of 'sea products' I  used to bath the birds in seaweed water and the feathering always improved when I did, though i may not have had the quality and it was improving 'poorer' birds who naturally had poorer feather)

[Chatrace]

Most of what I can get is chrushed grannit

[velo99]

 

  I feed oysytershell in breeding season, The seed mix I use has granite grit included. I never feed just grit in a bowl. No need.

[Guest beautyhomer]

Anyone know if cuttlefish is any good for the birds mine love it dont cost anything either just go down the beach and collect bags of it at the right time

 

Should be a good source of calcium

[DFisher]

i remember alot of the old guys i used to visit adding rock salt which they used to crush at certain times of the year - i believe when youngsters in the enst to stop them going to the river looking for salt?

[Guest]

I always wonder the merits of any salt; in terms of our food we get more than enough added to anything we buy!! Is this ithe same with all the supplements we feed our birds?? Must admit I'm not a great lover of salt but that may just be my prejudice form a health perspective for myself.