So glad you've joined us. As noted above, the high calcium content of layer ration is not good for any bird not actively in a production cycle - this includes not just male birds but females that are not laying due to age (too young or too old), molt, broodiness, illness, etc. The damage of excess calcium is all internal and the birds often show little outward sign of it's impact until they decline and die and the "cause" is often chalked up to any number of things other than the undiscovered internal damage caused by a high calcium diet. Birds in the non-laying group can survive on high calcium diets and seem to do "just as fine as the rest of my birds" so this often leads to a perception that there is no harm in feeding them all layer ration.
I use a grower ration for all my birds - it's just so much simpler than worrying about who does or does not need a layer ration at any given time and how to accomplish feeding those birds a different ration. Oyster shell offered free choice will provide all the calcium a laying bird needs - it also has the added benefit of allowing the bird to take only what their body indicates she needs at any given time vs. the controlled amount that she takes in with a layer ration where it is blended into her base feed.
