Clam shells (before I feed to my chickens)

[FrostRanger]

I came across this post when I searched crawfish . . . we recently boiled some crawfish and I'm wondering if I should save the shells for my chicks when they start laying. Sorry, they are not getting the meat, we ate that.

Since they're boiled with spices I was also wondering if I should soak/boil them to remove the salt/seasonings or if it's unnecessary.

My oldest chicks are 9 weeks so I plan to freeze them until they need extra calcium for egg laying.

I'm sure they'd love that! My girls go absolutely nuts for shrimp shells. I don't think boiling them a second time would be necessary

 

[Birds4Eli]

Well, just anything that you can possibly think has calcium in it, I think would work. I used to do eggshells using what my birds laid, but it was never enough. Make sure to really clean the shells from the beach first before you use them.

 

[redinator]

I'm sure they'd love that! My girls go absolutely nuts for shrimp shells. I don't think boiling them a second time would be necessary

The salt wouldn't be too much for them? I guess they only take small bits of calcium as needed, so the amount of salt probably wouldn't be significant . . .?

 

[FrostRanger]

The salt wouldn't be too much for them? I guess they only take small bits of calcium as needed, so the amount of salt probably wouldn't be significant . . .?

As long as they aren't covered in salt and it's only fed occasionally as a treat, I don't think it'd be an issue, especially since they're boiled

 

[RoyalChick]

The salt wouldn't be too much for them? I guess they only take small bits of calcium as needed, so the amount of salt probably wouldn't be significant . . .?

Oh they will eat the whole shrimp shell. There isn’t much calcium there - shrimp are chitin not calcium shelled - but apparently they are yummy for chickens.

 

[redinator]

As long as they aren't covered in salt and it's only fed occasionally as a treat, I don't think it'd be an issue, especially since they're boiled

I was thinking as a substitute for oyster shell . . . not a good idea?

 

[redinator]

Oh they will eat the whole shrimp shell. There isn’t much calcium there - shrimp are chitin not calcium shelled - but apparently they are yummy for chickens.

Does that go for crawfish too?

 

[FrostRanger]

I was thinking as a substitute for oyster shell . . . not a good idea?

Does that go for crawfish too?

They are fairly soft shelled too, unless you eat quite a bit of shellfish, it'd probably be cheaper and less effort to just use oyster shell for calcium and save the crawfish shells for a treat

 

[redinator]

They are fairly soft shelled too, unless you eat quite a bit of shellfish, it'd probably be cheaper and less effort to just use oyster shell for calcium and save the crawfish shells for a treat

We do when they're in season . . . I could pack away 7/8lbs in a sitting by myself, lol.

 

[FrostRanger]

Does that go for crawfish too?

Looked into it further and it seems so, they molt every now and then. Even if they aren't great for calcium they're still a good treat