Can I use this bone meal as a calcium supplement in my birds food?

[Homo sapien]

I have this bone meal that I was thinking about mixing in with the food of my chickens and ducks to add some calcium and other minerals. Is it safe? I know that there are certain forms of silica that chickens can eat and other that are bad for them I just do not know which ones are safe and which are not. The form of silica used in this bone meal is mainly crystalline quartz silica. The bone meal is made up of "Natural rock phosphate from rich fossilized animal bone deposits (Tunisia). Finely ground (80% through a 100 mesh screen) then regranulated."

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. @U_Stormcrow is one of the people who might know the answers to your questions.

 

[nuthatched]

Bone meal was a very common feed ingredient 100-150 years ago, I'm not sure if it's the best any more. Probably dropped out of favor for easier and cheaper sources like oyster shells .

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have this bone meal that I was thinking about mixing in with the food of my chickens and ducks to add some calcium and other minerals. Is it safe? I know that there are certain forms of silica that chickens can eat and other that are bad for them I just do not know which ones are safe and which are not. The form of silica used in this bone meal is mainly crystalline quartz silica. The bone meal is made up of "Natural rock phosphate from rich fossilized animal bone deposits (Tunisia). Finely ground (80% through a 100 mesh screen) then regranulated."View attachment 4254165

Define "safe"

That's quartz (the mineral), from the rock they are crushing. Its chemically essentially inert. Your chickens can eat it with no issues. Chances are very, very, very good they re doing so already when they peck at things on the ground. The chances of silica being present in your sand is very very high.

Silica CAN be an issue if it is very very fine and readily makes dust - because it can be inhaled, and while inert, quartz crystals are sharp.

Do you use DE (Diatomaceous Earth)? This is less dangerous than DE (from a silica perspective). DE is also primarily silica, but tends to be finely ground and dusts easily - which is why you are supposed to use a mask when applying it.

As others have observed, Bone Meal used to be used in old recipes - its not done so now in part due to cost, in part to control the amount of other things (trace metals, mostly) that could be introduced w/ the bone meal.

But yes, if you do some math, you can use that. Note that it is NOT a direct calcium substitute in the way that oyster shell is, because that bone meal also contains a lot of phosphorus, and your Ca : P ratio is just as important as total CA intake - in some ways, more important. and that ratio may be high - I'm not sure how they are differentiating "available" phosphoric acid from total phosphoric acid, so I can't do the math.

Which leaves me in the default position of "use it briefly if you have no other calcium source, and you need supplemental calcium, but don't make a habit out of it".

 

[saysfaa]

Is it meant for animal feed or for gardens?

If it is meant for gardens, the tolerance by the producers and regulators for contaminants and/or types of contaminants is much higher. Also, requirements for what they put on the label and/or test for is less thorough.

 

[Homo sapien]

Is it meant for animal feed or for gardens?

If it is meant for gardens, the tolerance by the producers and regulators for contaminants and/or types of contaminants is much higher. Also, requirements for what they put on the label and/or test for is less thorough.

It is meant for gardens.

 

[Homo sapien]

Define "safe"

That's quartz (the mineral), from the rock they are crushing. Its chemically essentially inert. Your chickens can eat it with no issues. Chances are very, very, very good they re doing so already when they peck at things on the ground. The chances of silica being present in your sand is very very high.

Silica CAN be an issue if it is very very fine and readily makes dust - because it can be inhaled, and while inert, quartz crystals are sharp.

Do you use DE (Diatomaceous Earth)? This is less dangerous than DE (from a silica perspective). DE is also primarily silica, but tends to be finely ground and dusts easily - which is why you are supposed to use a mask when applying it.

As others have observed, Bone Meal used to be used in old recipes - its not done so now in part due to cost, in part to control the amount of other things (trace metals, mostly) that could be introduced w/ the bone meal.

But yes, if you do some math, you can use that. Note that it is NOT a direct calcium substitute in the way that oyster shell is, because that bone meal also contains a lot of phosphorus, and your Ca : P ration is just as important as total CA intake - in some ways, more important. and that ratio may be high - I'm not sure how they are differentiating "available" phosphoric acid from total phosphoric acid, so I can't do the math.

Which leaves me in the default position of "use if briefly if you have no other calcium source, and you need supplemental calcium, but don't make a habit out of it".

Thank you for the information! My definition of safe in this case is if it does more harm than good to the chicken.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Is it meant for animal feed or for gardens?

If it is meant for gardens, the tolerance by the producers and regulators for contaminants and/or types of contaminants is much higher. Also, requirements for what they put on the label and/or test for is less thorough.

the potential for heavy metals is much higher - though "oyster shell" which many of us use as a calcium source isn't labeled/tested beyond disclosing that it is, in fact, oyster shell.

This is an ingredient where we all know we don't know much about what's in it - beyond the general description.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thank you for the information! My definition of safe in this case is if it does more harm than good to the chicken.

I'll stick by my initial assessment then. If you have to provide a calcium supplement, and you have no other option, use this in a pinch. But don't make a habit out of it, and don't incorporate it into your long term feed plans. and if the supplemental calcium need is short enough (i.e. I ran out today, don't get paid till next Friday), just skip it. The birds can briefly leach from their own systems to provide the needed Ca, then redeposit later w/o harm - particularly this time of year when rate of lay is reduced due to decline inn light levels (Northern Hemisphere, anyways). Hope that helps!

 

[Debbie292d]

Regardless, I wouldn't mix that in my chickens' feed forcing them to consume, for one, that high level of calcium. Maybe once would be okay, but I sure wouldn't make a habit of it or that could be overdosing and hard on their kidneys, if not other organs as well.

For calcium, most of us put out oyster shell in a dish separate from their feed. Those hens that need it will eat it, and those that don't won't.