Alternative calcium supplement (ground marble) in México.

[Cucco]

My little quail hen has been laying for a month, and I noticed she was eating some white stuff she found on the patio floor (indoors "free range").
That stuff seems to be eggshells and drywall (cal/gypsum). The younger one (not laying) doesn't seems interested in them at all.

Thinking in lack of calcium, I went the entire city searching for limestone, oyster shell or another cheap calcium supplement.
Unfortunately, other than poultry laying feed, there's nothing like that around here.

All I could find was:

• Muddy & frozen "ostión" (large oyster): $1 for a kilo. A pain to clean, open, ground... but cheap
• Calcium carbonate (lab grade): $2 dollars for only 100g. Expensive.

There are a bunch of shops here, but only sell seeds (gmo's), and agrochemicals, and at the animal feed stores they just recommend a bag of 40kg chicken layer mash.

And then, in some "art and chemicals" store I found 1kg bags of marmolina (ground marble). The employee told me it is calcium carbonate, and I buy it at just half a dollar.

Now then, she has been eating some of it for a couple weeks and has been doing fine so far, but just now I'm getting a little nervous about it, and just wanted to know if it's safe for her, taking into account that there's no other option here (besides gypsum and cal).

(This is the younger one, I buy her at 1 month old and is still afraid of me T_T.)

 

[chooks4life]

If it is just pure calcium carbonate it's fine. However calcium and magnesium belong together and the body needs both to utilize either properly, so if you can get Dolomite it's better than plain lime or other plain calcium sources. Whatever you get, pieces large enough for her to choose the amount she needs is safer than powder added to her food. At a pinch, eggshells will also be fine, though some storebought eggs have sprays applied to them or are dipped in chemicals...

Stores to check for dolomite and some other forms of calcium etc also fed to livestock include landscaping suppliers, produce stores, pet shops, etc. Online shops can be great too but some are total ripoffs.

By the way, hello and

If you add your location to your profile people can give you location specific info.

Best wishes.

 

[subhanalah]

You can also use cuttle bone. It also provides enrichment.