Grit! Does it do a birdie good? That's the question. After a brief study with our Feed trial, I am convinced that grit is unequivocally a necessary feed supplement. During this feed trial, we observed that birds on grit gained around 50% more in a single week then birds not on grit.
 
So, what is grit? Grit is crushed rock. For poultry there are specific sizes based on the age and development of the bird. Grit acts like the teeth of the bird. When the bird eats the grit, it travels into their gizzard, a muscle that grinds the food to be digested. If the bird does not have grit, then it cannot properly grind its food. It would kind of be like us trying to chew hard food with no teeth. Without the grinding action, the food does not get digested and thus gets passed out the back end of the chicken and becomes expensive fertilizer. 
 
Through this study we have found that grit will best benefit the bird if given from day one and continued without end
 
Recently I was talking with one of the farmers we sell to, and he had mentioned that he had lost a fair number of birds to clumping out in the pasture. This spring has been cold and wet which makes the birds gather for warmth. If they are clumping, it is often due to fear or cold. Fear didn't appear to be the issue in this case, so we agreed it was the cold. His birds are about a week behind our study, and both of us have had similar nightly temperatures. The big difference is This customer had not been giving grit to his birds once they hit the pasture. Having just seen some major number comparisons with our study, I hypothesized with him that his birds are not absorbing all the calories that they need to stay comfortable in these cooler temperatures. This is due to the feed passing through more whole and the nutrients not being fully absorbed by the birds. This will also cause a lower growth rate in his birds since they are burning the calories attempting to stay warm in the cool spring nights. He has now proceeded to go and source grit from his local feed store and will report back with his observations.