Finding a good grit mix is important. While even the most basic grit mixes would contain calcium, calcium alone is not enough. Pigeons require many more ingredients to remain healthy, especially indoor birds and birds that aren’t getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals from other means, like their feed or a vitamin mix (note that mixes should be used carefully: you don’t want to overdose).

There are two types of grit typically available in pet stores, and they serve two distinct purposes:

1. Insoluble grit helps birds break down their food, as they don’t have teeth (therefore can’t break food down like mammals can) and some birds don’t hull their seeds before eating them. Insoluble grit can contain granite, pebbles, or even sand. Pigeons, especially home pigeons, do not need insoluble grit: with the right diet, it’s close to being functionally useless.
2. Soluble grit is a very important supplement: it provides calcium, vitamins, and minerals that are important for your bird’s health and well-being. A good soluble grit mix is absolutely essential for your pigeon companion unless you have a different source of all the vitamins and minerals it provides.

<aside> ❗ There is a lot of confusion around grit: you may encounter articles telling you that home pigeons do not actually need grit or even articles claiming that grit somehow hurts them. Pigeons do not need insoluble grit (tiny pebbles helping digestion); however, soluble grit mixes are a source of calcium, vitamins, and minerals and they keep pigeons healthy. CPC highly recommends having a good grit mix available to your pigeons at all times. All diet and wellbeing guides here assume you are providing grit.

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Recommended Grits

<aside> 🐦 These are just a few well-known good examples. If you can find an equivalent or something close (use the Key Ingredients section as aid), that’s great!

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• Versele-Laga All-in-One. ****Highly recommended, mix of choice for many CPC members.
  • Store links
  • Note on “Expert” labeling
• Jovati Grit Mixture. Good mix with all necessary ingredients.
  • Store links
• Des Moines Red Grit and Mineral Plus Mix. This mix is popular but is missing Vitamin B, so another mix may be better if you do not wish to supplement it yourself.
  • Store links
• Foy’s Red Grit. The new version of this grit seems to lack vitamin D3, so if you go for this option you likely need another source of that.
  • Store links
• Australian Avian Pigeon Pink Minerals. A good mineral mix option in Australia; recommended to mix with shell grit to reduce wastage and make the product easier for the pigeons to consume.
  • Store links

Non-Recommended Grits

• Pure oyster shell grits. There are many of these available out there, but nothing but calcium is only going to, well, provide calcium. A whole aspect of nutrition is missing here.
• Plain granite grits. Many grits contain granite, but this is a token addition more than anything. Granite is functionally useless for pigeons. It is advertised as helping the pigeons grind up their food - but pigeons do this fine on their own. Granite contains no valuable minerals and they generally pass it without affecting it much, if they’ll eat it at all - I was briefly on a granite grit when I didn’t know better and my pigeons hardly touched it. Wonder why!
• Kaytee High-Calcium Grit Supplement for Small Birds. Very common, but made primarily of granite and additionally simply not complete. Better than a plain granite grit but missing many important vitamins, and simply just not formulated with pigeons in mind.

Key Ingredients

<aside> 🐦 Much of this is very simplified, and if you understand how these chemicals work, consider doing your own research into their full functions.

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• Lysine and Methionine. Amino acids: not every animal can synthesize amino acids they need by themselves, and if it isn’t in the diet we provide them they’re missing out.
• Calcium. One of the most important minerals for pigeons—especially hens, for eggshell integrity and preventing egg-binding.
• Phosphorus. In short, unscientific terms, helps the bodies of both us and our pigeons do their jobs, aiding healthy function at a microscopic but important level.
• Salt & Sodium. These are two different forms of basically the same thing, but basically, just like us, pigeons require a certain amount of it to remain healthy, especially if they are using resources frequently, like breeding birds. They can become to crave it so strongly they have been known to attempt drinking tears and picking at scabs.

Versele-Laga All-in-One ingredients

• Vitamin A. A vitamin that, like phosphorus, helps the pigeon’s body with general maintenance, including healthy growth and proper organ function.