Do you need to feed pullets oystershell if they are free ranging???
Advise
- Thread starter BakerHens2006
- Start date
Your eggs should tell you. How are the shells? If they are hard and thick enough, they are getting enough calcium. If the egg shells are soft or thin, they need more calcium.
It will depend on their forage. Many plants provide calcium. They can get calcium from a lot of the creepy crawlies they eat, all the way from hard-shelled bugs to mice, frogs, and small snakes. If your rock is limestone-based, they will get calcium from the rocks they use as grit.
My parents never purchased oyster shells or anything else for the laying hens. Even the egg shells were fed to the pigs, not back to the chickens. We lived in limestone country and they found all the calcium they needed from their forage. But if your chickens are not getting enough as determined by the egg shells, you need to supply some calcium.
The way I look at it, oyster shell is cheap and is good insurance. If they need it, they will eat it. If they don't need it, it will last a really long time. Just offer it on the side, not mixed with their feed and let them make that decision.
It will depend on their forage. Many plants provide calcium. They can get calcium from a lot of the creepy crawlies they eat, all the way from hard-shelled bugs to mice, frogs, and small snakes. If your rock is limestone-based, they will get calcium from the rocks they use as grit.
My parents never purchased oyster shells or anything else for the laying hens. Even the egg shells were fed to the pigs, not back to the chickens. We lived in limestone country and they found all the calcium they needed from their forage. But if your chickens are not getting enough as determined by the egg shells, you need to supply some calcium.
The way I look at it, oyster shell is cheap and is good insurance. If they need it, they will eat it. If they don't need it, it will last a really long time. Just offer it on the side, not mixed with their feed and let them make that decision.
Yup, it's cheap and easy: put out a bowl and it will last a loooonnnngggg time. I do like to have it as insurance. I don't have to monitor their egg shell strength b/c they do it themselves.
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