IS too much calcium bad?

Is it true that too much calcium in a chicken's diet is bad for them? This includes hens and roo even when the hen is not laying. I heard in the long run too much calcium can damage the intestinal tracts and other organs as well? Lets say if i have a feed that is 2-4% in calcium is it good to feed that long term?

Yes too much calcium will cause problems. You'll get eggs with weird shells too. Some will have bumps all over and some will have extra layers of calcium making them paler or even weird colors like purple. However a calcium overdose is very hard to do with adult chickens. You will not get too much calcium from just layer feed and treats. The only way they'll get too much is if you force them to eat extra calcium like mixing oyster shell or other supplements in to their feed. If you offer oyster shell separately they will only eat what they need. Chickens not laying yet though are at risk for getting too much calcium since they aren't yet using it daily to make eggs. Egg shells are roughly 98% calcium, 1% phosphorous, and 1% other trace minerals. That's why you don't give layer feed until they are ready to lay. The excess calcium will damage organs in chicks.

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So you're saying its ok to feed adult chickens breeder feed even after breeding season is over?

too much calcium can mess up their liver someone just told me....so stay clear of any excess.

But how much is too much?

I feed my flock Purina Flock Raiser, all year long. I just have a side dish of oyster shell for the layers that want it.

Mine are on flockraiser also, the thing is my bag of mazuri im ordered will be coming in soon and its the breeder feed and i dont even know if my birds will be laying by when i get it. Should it be ok to feed the that? I looked at the calcium and it said 2.5-4.5% of calcium.

What's the difference between purina layer feed and flock raiser I give mine layer and was getting steadily 13 to 15 eggs a day and now im getting 8 to 10 and got a soft shell two days ago and today i only got 2 eggs I was told I didn't need to give them oyster shells so I haven't been until the soft shell. Is that why i had a drop in production and if so how do i give it also started givin scratch how much do i give 16 hens

bantam_n00b said:

But how much is too much?

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Depend on if the chicken is laying or not.
The easiest thing to do is just offer a starter/ grower and offer Oyster Shells on the side.

I believe that you were asking about a Breeder feed and feeding it year round, most good breeder feed still has a good bit of added calcium but not as much as a layer feed.
Example -
Buckeye Layer/ Breeder

Crude Protein, min. 18.00%
Lysine, min. 0.85%
Methionine, min 0.38%
Crude Fat, min. 3.50%
Crude Fiber, max. 4.50%
Calcium, min. 2.70%
Calcium, max. 3.70%
Phosphorus, min. 0.65%
Salt, min. 0.10%
Salt, max. 0.60%
Vitamin E, min. 18 IU/lb

A better alternative would be Buckeye Big 4

Crude Protein, min. 20.00%
Lysine, min. 1.10%
Methionine, min 0.39%
Crude Fat, min. 3.50%
Crude Fiber, max. 4.00%
Calcium, min. 0.70%
Calcium, max. 1.20%
Phosphorus, min. 0.65%
Salt, min. 0.10%
Salt, max. 0.60%

If you want a Purina product you could go with Purina Game Bird Flight Conditioner which also has the animal protein that they should have in there diet,

Crude Protein, not less than 19.0%
Crude Fiber, not less than 12.0%
Crude Fat, not more than 2.0%
Lysine, not less than 0.8%
Methionine, not less than 0.3%
Calcium, not less than 0.85%
Calcium, not more than 1.35%
Phosphorus, not less than 0.8%
Salt, not less than 0.35%
Salt, not more than 0.85%

All feeds listed contain animal protein.

Chris

Chris09 said:

Depend on if the chicken is laying or not.
The easiest thing to do is just offer a starter/ grower and offer Oyster Shells on the side.

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x2 If you have roos or a mixed age flock or any non laying hens this is the easiest thing to do. A chicken on their own will not eat too much calcium. If it is provided on the side, they will only eat it when they need it. The problem comes when you feed layer feed to any non laying birds - they can not choose not to eat the calcium that they do not need.