Calcium source - Liming the lawn?

[Black Jaque]

First, I am not asking whether I should feed garden lime directly to my hens - I know that would be bad.

What I am wondering is whether applying garden lime to my lawn would eventually provide a calcium source for my hens. We keep them in a chicken tractor and move it every 3-4 days. While the lawn is green they really enjoy eating the greenery.

I know the lime would be good for the lawn in general, but if it has another benefit - I might actually consider liming the lawn worthwhile. I know the lawn has not recieved lime in over 5 years (since I moved in).

 

[Fred's Hens]

I feed Calcium Carbonate to my birds all the time. As do the commercial hen houses.

There are many sources for calcium in swiss chard, broccoli, etc from the garden. But the amount of calcium a layer needs is tough to provide purely from vegetation sources, imo.

Caution: When feeding Calcium pellets, be extra, extra sure it is Calcitic Lime. Low Magnesium, of around 5%-8%. Many Lawn and Garden limes are super high in Magnesium and aren't what I would want the birds eating.