Am I a bad chicken momma? I'm not giving them oyster...

[WoodlandWoman]

I guess I'm in the minority on this thread. I do offer oyster shell to my flock. They lay a lot of eggs. They eat more than just layer feed. They eat a lot of foods that are not good sources of calcium. They find a few that do have some calcium. We have a shorter season than many for both green feed and bugs. We don't have calcium rich sand here. I don't go through a lot of oyster shell, but it's there if they need it.

People that are not getting enough calcium steal it from their bones, to keep functioning. Calcium is involved in a lot of important processes in the body. I don't cull my chickens when they're 2 years old, so any imbalance in their diet could get worse over time. I've always thought oyster shell was cheap insurance. That's why I offer it.

 

[jjthinkagain]

Exactly. There just isn't a good reason not to. It's so easy to do and then it's there if they need it. Imagine trying to expel a rubbery egg that gets stuck and just won't move and how uncomfortable that is vs. one that's smooth and slides on through. Waiting for that to happen before providing oyster shell - why put a hen through it even once?
JJ

 

[tuesdays chicks]

I eat fruit vegetable meat cheese eggs milk juice. Maybe I should supplement my diet with a whole load of extra vitamin and minerals oh I forgot fish and seafood any way I think. Not
I'm not saying people shouldn't offer it if they want. But I am saying don't try to make everyone else who doesn't feel guilty

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

I offer Oyster shells to my flock – here is why:

1 – Commercial layer feed is tested/made for “commercial” layers – those are leghorns – your grocery store egg layers. Their calcium needs (leghorns) are not the same as other chickens.


2- if there is not enough calcium in the diet, then it is pulled from the body. By the time you notice a problem, there is a major problem. It might take a year, two years or happen at 8 months – all pullets/hens are different. Soft shelled eggs are nothing to take lightly – I am not talking about the softies you get when a pullet first starts laying – I mean your girl has been laying for months/years and suddenly the shells are leathery or fragile.


3- my flock consists of mostly heritage birds, large bodied fowl. Their diet is not what a commercial bird eats. I do not feed a layer feed – I feed a higher protein feed good for a mixed flock. Yes it does have some calcium in it, but not the loads that layer feed has. So my flock gets oyster shells, plus egg shells offered back.


4-chickens who survive in the wild do not lay 5 or 6 eggs a week. Neither did my mother’s chickens who were “clean-up” chickens – they cleaned up around the farm and we only fed them some scratch in winter – 4 eggs a week from a hen was something to really be proud of. Her birds were nothing like my birds.


5-I have Roosters, and they do not need all the calcium that is forced upon them in the layer feed. They do eat oyster shells – my head Roo even calls the girls over to the bowl and offers it to them.



If you do not feed oyster shells, I do not think you are bad or abusive to your birds. But offering it does not mean you are bad or abusive, or spending your money wastefully either.

 

[Anguissette]

I have 11 week old pullets, so I haven't gotten to the point of this being a concern yet. However, after reading this thread I just want to say thank you guys for presenting such awesome arguments for both sides of this....I will be feeding oyster shells.