Heavens no. Just buy the oyster shell. I offer the oyster shell and I also save all of my egg shells and grind them up and mix them in their food of scrambled eggs. I would never offer something to my girls that is not intended to be eaten.
Adding plaster of paris as a source of calcium into chicken feed?
- Thread starter chicken2010
- Start date
Quote:
yes, that's why I'm slightly worried as I read on here that it could be used as a rat killer but the quantities ingested seems to be 100x more than what the chickens will ingest as the chickens tend on eat the feed during the morning and free range for the rest of the day, it's just that I'm worried the hens may be deficient in calcium as we only feed them scratch as it's the only thing we can get hold off and they have been laying an egg every day.
If they're laying they need something besides scratch. Scratch is a treat, not a basic feed.
yes, that's why I'm slightly worried as I read on here that it could be used as a rat killer but the quantities ingested seems to be 100x more than what the chickens will ingest as the chickens tend on eat the feed during the morning and free range for the rest of the day, it's just that I'm worried the hens may be deficient in calcium as we only feed them scratch as it's the only thing we can get hold off and they have been laying an egg every day.
If they're laying they need something besides scratch. Scratch is a treat, not a basic feed.
Quote:
Tofu is made from fermented soy beans and food grade calcium sulfate.
Gypsum cements like plaster of paris is a form of calcium sulfate that is NOT the same as the stuff you eat. Kind of like how you have food grade DE and pool grade DE. One you can eat, one will burn your skin and is toxic... both are called Diatomaceous Earth.
To the OP: If you live in the US or Canada, you can likly find more than scratch, you'll want to request layer feed.
Tofu is made from fermented soy beans and food grade calcium sulfate.
Gypsum cements like plaster of paris is a form of calcium sulfate that is NOT the same as the stuff you eat. Kind of like how you have food grade DE and pool grade DE. One you can eat, one will burn your skin and is toxic... both are called Diatomaceous Earth.
To the OP: If you live in the US or Canada, you can likly find more than scratch, you'll want to request layer feed.
the chickens tend on eat the feed during the morning and free range for the rest of the day
Depending on where you live (i.e. availability of free range foods), then you don't really need to give them anything extra.
We don't feed our chickens anything at all (maybe a handful of rice or two per day between 70 chickens) and whatever food scraps we have left over.
They find all their own food, we do put out crushed egg shells (from hatched chicks), they rarely eat much of it but they do peck at the membranes.
Sometimes, we build termite 'traps' (piles of wet wood on the ground) and then we open them up as a special treat for the girls with chicks but they all seem to do just fine doing exactly what wild birds would do; eating whatever they can find.
We live in a hot country with no cold winter, it's never below 22C here and we have more bugs and creepy crawlies than you can imagine. There is an endless supply of food for the chickens. If you don't have that luxury then you may need to provide supplements, but most bugs are high in calcium (they need it to fly for some reason that I can't remember) so it's probably not calcium you'd be worring about anyway.
Make a nice Rooster sculpture out of the Plaster Of Paris, paint it and sell it at the local market then buy some chicken feed if you think they need it.
Depending on where you live (i.e. availability of free range foods), then you don't really need to give them anything extra.
We don't feed our chickens anything at all (maybe a handful of rice or two per day between 70 chickens) and whatever food scraps we have left over.
They find all their own food, we do put out crushed egg shells (from hatched chicks), they rarely eat much of it but they do peck at the membranes.
Sometimes, we build termite 'traps' (piles of wet wood on the ground) and then we open them up as a special treat for the girls with chicks but they all seem to do just fine doing exactly what wild birds would do; eating whatever they can find.
We live in a hot country with no cold winter, it's never below 22C here and we have more bugs and creepy crawlies than you can imagine. There is an endless supply of food for the chickens. If you don't have that luxury then you may need to provide supplements, but most bugs are high in calcium (they need it to fly for some reason that I can't remember) so it's probably not calcium you'd be worring about anyway.
Make a nice Rooster sculpture out of the Plaster Of Paris, paint it and sell it at the local market then buy some chicken feed if you think they need it.
Quote:
Quote:
Depending on where you live (i.e. availability of free range foods), then you don't really need to give them anything extra.
We don't feed our chickens anything at all (maybe a handful of rice or two per day between 70 chickens) and whatever food scraps we have left over.
They find all their own food, we do put out crushed egg shells (from hatched chicks), they rarely eat much of it but they do peck at the membranes.
Sometimes, we build termite 'traps' (piles of wet wood on the ground) and then we open them up as a special treat for the girls with chicks but they all seem to do just fine doing exactly what wild birds would do; eating whatever they can find.
We live in a hot country with no cold winter, it's never below 22C here and we have more bugs and creepy crawlies than you can imagine. There is an endless supply of food for the chickens. If you don't have that luxury then you may need to provide supplements, but most bugs are high in calcium (they need it to fly for some reason that I can't remember) so it's probably not calcium you'd be worring about anyway.
Make a nice Rooster sculpture out of the Plaster Of Paris, paint it and sell it at the local market then buy some chicken feed if you think they need it.
You're one of the lucky ones where the environment is ideal for chickens to survive, and where chicken ancestors emerged. 22c year round, whew! That's summer day temps! LOL
Depending on where you live (i.e. availability of free range foods), then you don't really need to give them anything extra.
We don't feed our chickens anything at all (maybe a handful of rice or two per day between 70 chickens) and whatever food scraps we have left over.
They find all their own food, we do put out crushed egg shells (from hatched chicks), they rarely eat much of it but they do peck at the membranes.
Sometimes, we build termite 'traps' (piles of wet wood on the ground) and then we open them up as a special treat for the girls with chicks but they all seem to do just fine doing exactly what wild birds would do; eating whatever they can find.
We live in a hot country with no cold winter, it's never below 22C here and we have more bugs and creepy crawlies than you can imagine. There is an endless supply of food for the chickens. If you don't have that luxury then you may need to provide supplements, but most bugs are high in calcium (they need it to fly for some reason that I can't remember) so it's probably not calcium you'd be worring about anyway.
Make a nice Rooster sculpture out of the Plaster Of Paris, paint it and sell it at the local market then buy some chicken feed if you think they need it.
You're one of the lucky ones where the environment is ideal for chickens to survive, and where chicken ancestors emerged. 22c year round, whew! That's summer day temps! LOL
- Thread starter
- #29
- Feb 1, 2010
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Quote:
Tofu is made from fermented soy beans and food grade calcium sulfate.
Gypsum cements like plaster of paris is a form of calcium sulfate that is NOT the same as the stuff you eat. Kind of like how you have food grade DE and pool grade DE. One you can eat, one will burn your skin and is toxic... both are called Diatomaceous Earth.
To the OP: If you live in the US or Canada, you can likly find more than scratch, you'll want to request layer feed.
yes, we have some food grade calcium sulphate which we add to soy milk to make tofu with
Tofu is made from fermented soy beans and food grade calcium sulfate.
Gypsum cements like plaster of paris is a form of calcium sulfate that is NOT the same as the stuff you eat. Kind of like how you have food grade DE and pool grade DE. One you can eat, one will burn your skin and is toxic... both are called Diatomaceous Earth.
To the OP: If you live in the US or Canada, you can likly find more than scratch, you'll want to request layer feed.
yes, we have some food grade calcium sulphate which we add to soy milk to make tofu with
If you have food grade stuff, go ahead and use some of it. But first, I'd see if you can find a complete layer ration.
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