Crushed oyster shells - how to feed?

[Portalguy]

Thanks, this has been very informative !

Found this through searching, and did not have to start a new thread with a question that someone's had before.

Cheers,
Rob in Vermont

 

[vegaschick]

Thanks so much for the advice...I was wondering the very same thing. Glad I can just scatter it but I love the idea of the hanging bird feeder.

 

[felidaet]

There was another similar thread that I just replied to. Here was the message:


Here is how I feed grit and oyster shell. It works great! Grit is in half of the feeder and oyster shell in the other half. There is a divider to separate the two halves.

 

[midwestchickenwrangler]

Sorry if these have already been stated...

I have a 1 yr old white silkie that is laying now, and 9 other 8 week old chickens together. How can I give the silkie oyster shell so her egg shells won't get soft, but not give it to the other girls. I think I have read that too much calcium is bad for younger chickens not of laying age.

If I put a dish of grit in the coop, free range, will everyone know when they need it or should I still mix it in with their food?

Thanks

 

[gryeyes]

Don't mix it with the food. In your case, the younger ones do not need it and it might even cause some problems for them.

Put it in a little dish. The silkie should take some if she needs it.

Because I have a group of layers, I cleaned out a tuna can (opened with one of those "safety lid" openers so there's no sharp edges), nailed it to the coop wall near the feeder, and I keep some oyster shell bits in it. When the group of them are begging for something from me, I toss some out at their feet and they eat up most of it.

 

[HershelMS]

when your chickens are about two weeks out from laying age (18 weeks), you can start giving them the oyster shells. i mounted a small feeder on the side of the coop, off the ground so they dont turn it over. You can also give them the layer pellets about this time. about 20 weeks your chickens should be ready to lay. if there are oyster shells available they will take what they need, even from a separate feeder. I never mix the oyster shells with their food, but dont see why it would hurt anything if you did.
when they start laying, their body will tell them when they need the calcium. It is ALWAYS a good idea to have an abundant supply of it for layers. if they need the calcium, and it is not available, they may continue to lay and the calcium for the shells has to come from somewhere... their bones start to get robbed for the needed calcium and/or the shells start to become thinner and weaker.
its kinda like a chicken ostioperosis if they continue to lay without the calcium being replenished via supplement...
for layers... keep it available at all times... they will take what they need. Older hens (2-4 years) will take more as their bodies need more for continued egg production.

 

[killervex]

What I plan on doing is having a 4inch pvc gravity feeder for feed, and a separate smaller pvc gravity feeder for the shells. I've heard mixed reviews about mixing it in with feed and/or scratch so im hoping this is a safe bet

 

[FenikT]

Tip a regular cinder block (rectangular 2-hole concrete type) on its side and fill one hole w/ grit and the other w/ oyster shell. Plus, it serves as a handy mini-perch of sorts for those birds who like to be above everyone else.

 

[BunnyLover44]

Do I need to crush the oyster shells or can I keep them whole? also I dont know if this has been asked but what is the best brand to buy from or what brand are you guys happy with?

 

[gryeyes]

Do I need to crush the oyster shells or can I keep them whole? also I dont know if this has been asked but what is the best brand to buy from or what brand are you guys happy with?

I buy crushed oyster shell in bulk - a brown paper sack of about ten pounds of it - from the feed store. It's very inexpensive - do not get sucked into buying slick re sealable bags of it from a pet store! "Whole" oyster shell would be, well, at least oyster-shell halves which would be the size of a chicken's HEAD, so I am not sure what you mean by keeping the shells whole. If you mean, do you crush it smaller? If so, I wouldn't bother unless I was keeping Seramas. My bantam hens, including a Silver Sebright, consume crushed oyster shell flakes just fine. It crumbles well.