calcuim for hens

[ChuckenGirl]

what can you feed your hens for calcuim. can you give them a bowl of milk?
that was a serious question btw. lol
i can only think of oatmeal

 

[Cats Critters]

I think plants and oyster shells

 

[greyfields]

oyster shell

 

[airmom1c05]

Milk is bad for chickens unless it's cultured as like in yogurt and buttermilk. Oyster shell is best for laying hens. Baby chicks and pullets shouldn't have them until they are laying. Romaine lettuce as an occasional snack is OK for younger birds (and older ones, too).

 

[arlee453]

Don't give milk as milk - they can't handle the sugars so well - they are more or less lactose intolerant.

Yogurt is OK because it's cultured and the sugars are converted into digestible carbs by the live culture (bacteria) in the yogurt.

Personally, I just have oyster shell out in a feeder for them to take as they need it. You can get it at the feed store. Just don't offer it until they are actually laying. Young ones don't need that much calcium and it can cause problems with their development if they get too much too soon.

 

[V Chic Chick]

When I've had problems with thin egg shells, I've crushed up some Rennies and mixed them with porridge (rolled oats mixed with water / yoghurt / milk and heated). Rennies are indigestion tablets, which are just calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and a bit of flavouring. It seems to do the trick, and it's a very easy way to get it down them.

 

[ksacres]

I don't know where everyone gets this "can't digest milk" thing. They can drink it, and most of them love it. I give my chickens fresh goats milk, and they love it. I have done this for many years, and know others that do it as well, and I've never had any chickens drop over dead, or even complain of indigestion...

That being said, you would have to provide an awful lot of milk to have any real value as a calcium supplement. I would stick to oyster shell.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Well it is a fact that birds don't have the Lactase enzyme which is requited to digest lactose (milk sugar). Supplementing milk products to birds may actually hurt the gut health since the lactose can serve as a food source for diliterious bacteria in the hind gut of the chicken.

Jim

 

[1acrefarm]

You can save your egg shells. I bake mine until they are dry then crumble them. I then mix them with oyster shell.

 

[Churkenduse]

I save the eggs also, I didn't think of the oven thanks for that one.

I have an extra coffee grinder and I grind them when they are dry and feed it to them. Funny my girls have extremely hard shells so I don't give it too often. The idea is not to let them realize it is their own egg shells.