Can hens eat too much oyster shell

[Herscovitch]

I started with a dish of oyster shell in a dish this week and the hens (18 weeks old) just devour the whole dish every time I put more out. Can they eat too much? Can this cause impacted crop? Will they fill up on the shells and not get enough food? Please advise.

 

[humphrey farms]

I started with a dish of oyster shell in a dish this week and the hens (18 weeks old) just devour the whole dish every time I put more out. Can they eat too much? Can this cause impacted crop? Will they fill up on the shells and not get enough food? Please advise.

I put out a small size doggie dish every few days with oyster shell and my 14 laying hens pretty much devour it. Only when I have excess egg shells to feed them or dairy products in the table scraps do they not eat so much oyster shell. Plus they eat layer pellets, corn, BOSS, and free range all day long. Your girls might be getting ready to lay.

 

[18chickens]

I put out a small size doggie dish every few days with oyster shell and my 14 laying hens pretty much devour it. Only when I have excess egg shells to feed them or dairy products in the table scraps do they not eat so much oyster shell. Plus they eat layer pellets, corn, BOSS, and free range all day long. Your girls might be getting ready to lay.

 

[18chickens]

I put oyster shells in a dish separate but they don't eat a lot of it and their shells and whites are weak. I bought oyster shell flour and wanted to know can I put too much in their food. I'm also putting ground flax seed in their food. Can I over do that too?

 

[4 the Birds]

You can add crushed oyster shells (for calcium) and flax seed (for omega 3's) to the feed as a supplement. The majority of what they eat should be standard layer feed. I have heard that too much flax seed can give the eggs a bad taste but I don't know this from personal experience. In my opinion, if the birds are gorging either one of these then they do not have enough standard feed available. Neither of these are considered a desired treat for the birds but rather as a beneficial supplement.