Cant give oyster shells

[deChickyHen]

hou know I wonder!! before people gave oyster shells what did the chickens eat that gave them perfectly fine hard eggs?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Quote:
Yup. Oysters were a bit far away from my grandparents who kept chickens in the midwest.

It is a kind of BYC mantra and I understand the ready availability, but it isn't as if the layer feed and feeding back shells doesn't provide a ton of calcium. Plus, calcium rich garden foods in season. There must be the law of diminishing returns come into play somewhere here.

 

[TrystInn]

I'm Reformed Jewish and not particularly observant about kosher laws. So I'll offer that up front.

When I asked my Rabbi about using oyster shell for the chickens, he pointed out the number of Jews in our congregation that wore pearls. The product of the oyster (i.e. the pearl) isn't unclean and so the product of the oyster shell (i.e. the egg) isn't either.

Have you spoken to your Rabbi about this?

 

[deChickyHen]

Quote:
Because in my religion OYSTERS are unclean.... we eat kosher, if the chickens eat the oyster shells, then they become unclean and cannot be eaten!

It is kinda like when you buy turkey sausage out of the store yes it is healthy, but I cannot eat it because it is incased in pig intestines... making the turkey unclean for me to eat.... which is one of the main reasons I am really getting into raising my own food.. you would be surprized what is done to the food now a days

 

[fdlnjoe]

my parents and grandparents never gave chickens shells either,lots of fresh veggies though alwayhad garden always had good eggs

 

[donrae]

One reason to supplement calcuim now vs "back when" is the difference in diet. Most chickens now are confined and given a grain based diet. "Grandma's chickens" ran free and ate what they wanted, including a lot of greens. Another reason is increased productivity and artificial lighting to keep the birds laying more eggs. Grandma's hens probably layed less eggs a year, and always got to take a break in the winter (or became soup), so they didn't utilize as much calcium and got to take a break. Today's layers are bred for increased production, thus requiring more calcium, and many birds are lit to laying year round, so no rest for the body. Plus, Grandma always fed the shells back to the hens!

I personally just give the shells back to the girls, don't crush them up or anything. I have had one egg eater in my 12 years of having birds and I simply invited her to dinner

It's probably better to crush them up, but I'm lazy.

 

[deChickyHen]

Quote:
I inquired about that also... was told that we don't eat the pearl... so no it isn't unclean ... but once the shell is degested into the chicken and becomes apart of the egg it is unclean to eat... idk i just dont want to take chances with it!! i would rather not give it to them and be safe

 

[dacjohns]

deChicky,

You might want to check the ingredients of the feed if you are using feed. It might have oystershell added to it and it might be disguised as calcium something. Also check for added animal by products. I think some feeds have additional protein added in the form of pork. This might be somewhere you don't want to go. As another poster said, check with your rabbi.

Not all sausage is cased in pig intestine. I think most (I might be totally wrong) that most are in collagen casings. Hmm, collagen casings might be pork byproducts too.

Good luck with your journey towards self sufficiency.


A website I just looked at says that collagen casings come from cattle hide.

 

[deChickyHen]

Quote:
I totally agree I think the eggs would be the first choice and sand maybe..... I was speaking to my grandfather who is 95 who said the same thing you just did, eggshells and sand lots of greens.... we will see how it turns out

 

[dacjohns]

Unless the sand is calcium it won't really help with the egg shell strength. Sand is used in the gizzard to help grind up and digest the food. It isn't the same as a calcium supplement.