Any high calcium foods?

[FiddleChics]

@Texas Kiki - Even though it's 2 different brands? Purina & Blue Seal layer feed? It won't make them sick?

 

[Kiki]

@Texas Kiki - Even though it's 2 different brands? Purina & Blue Seal layer feed? It won't make them sick?

No it should not make them sick as long as the feed isn't spoiled.

 

[FiddleChics]

No it should not make them sick as long as the feed isn't spoiled.

Awesome! Thank you!

 

[Kiki]

Awesome! Thank you!

Here is a good book you may be interested in.
https://www.nap.edu/read/2114/chapter/4#22

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[FiddleChics]

Here is a good book you may be interested in.
https://www.nap.edu/read/2114/chapter/4#22

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Oh WOW!!!! Thank you again... that's really excellent information to know, and a super interesting read as well! It makes total sense that the pullets, at this age - have to have the increase in the calcium in preparation of laying!!! I have, as I said, the 2 'help yourself' calcium tins for them... and I did notice the one Australorp having a few pieces. I worried about that - because I was afraid of the 'damage' it could do... but, there was really nothing I could do -to stop her, but I did make note of it. She's the most developed pullet of them all... (I think? I never had Easter Eggers, or hens with pea combs... so don't know about that development - yet). Here's a pic of the Alpha hen (she's eating), (not the broody one I spoke of in this thread) and a few of the pullets... they're all about the same size... and the Australorp, with red comb/wattles - looks like a real chicken... hen.

 

[MountainGaurdian]

Leafy greens and bugs are high in calcium... I always add a handful of oyster shell to every can of grain that I feed and I feed all shells back to the chickens in the chicken bucket scraps from the house as well. I also allow them to all free graze from late summer to mid fall while the hens that are raising chicks are in the coups. I never have soft shells in fact some of mine can actually be pretty tough to crack open.

 

[Danrod]

I agree with Ol grey Mare. Start with their feed and oyster shell first. Dark leafy vegetables and sardines have a lot of calcium.

I also have a Problem.... I have a Newly Attacked hen. She's Blind now. Also a Layer not Broiler Hen . And SHE HATES OYSTER SHELL AND GRIT... so I'm at a PASS.. I've been feeding her . And her sisters OYSTER and GRIT but they've been eating lots of GREENS . KALE LETTUCE CHAR. ad so on... They have LAYER FEED and CORN cracked to Eat. But xpecially the blind one. Ses PICKY AS CAN BE.. eats Layer Today. Then she eats nothing to do with it or Grains for weeks . WHAT SHOULD I DO

I agree with Ol grey Mare. Start with their feed and oyster shell first. Dark leafy vegetables and sardines have a lot of calcium.

D GRIT..

 

[Folly's place]

Layer feed is already formulated with minimal protein levels (the most expensive ingredient) so adding corn, a lower protein grain, changes the protein levels for the worse. Layer feed is meant for small bodied, high egg producing hens while they are in production, with no added ingredients. Only for them!
Mary

 

[EddieSalita]

I also have a Problem.... I have a Newly Attacked hen. She's Blind now. Also a Layer not Broiler Hen . And SHE HATES OYSTER SHELL AND GRIT... so I'm at a PASS.. I've been feeding her . And her sisters OYSTER and GRIT but they've been eating lots of GREENS . KALE LETTUCE CHAR. ad so on... They have LAYER FEED and CORN cracked to Eat. But xpecially the blind one. Ses PICKY AS CAN BE.. eats Layer Today. Then she eats nothing to do with it or Grains for weeks . WHAT SHOULD I DO


D GRIT..

An out of the box suggestion/reference......

Moringa olifera leaves are one of the highest and most bioavaliable forms of calcium in a plant. High in protein. Palatable. Fermented it's even better.

2000+ mg per 100 dried grams, 25-30% protein. An eggshell contains about 2-2.5 grams of calcium from my limited research.

I make sure my hens get tossed a branch every day. The powder is available in health stores. But it's free if you can grow some.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6680523/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7382168/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ar...ra leaf (ML) is,a calcium supplement for food.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213453016300362