Easter Egg Hunt is Over !!!!

[airmom1c05]

I discovered this past weekend that all my birds adore Pepperjack Cheese! However, I just now read a post on this forum about calcium being bad for young non-laying pullets and even roosters! There is some question regarding the possibility of too much calcium even being bad for a laying age hen who is not laying for a while. Go figure! Maybe I'll just stick to their regular feed and some Romaine lettuce since there isn't much green grass here until spring. I would have thought the cheese would help egg strength, but what I'm seeing tells me egg layers really need oyster shell in their diet. Thanks for the egg shell detailed advice. I just read that you can bake them at 150 degrees for half an hour, let them cool in the oven, and then they will be very easy to crush or grind.

 

[ruth]

Or microwave them for 2 minutes and they crush easily.

As far as the cheese - mine have been eating it since they were day-olds. I don't feed them any kind of grit but they free-range all day over property.

 

[airmom1c05]

I read if they free range they don't need grit. I also heard that if they eat layer food they don't need oyster shells. That was from a man who wanted to sell me some eggs to hatch, but I don't have an incubator. The two breeder Silky Seramas will be my highway to hatching eggs when it's warmed up this spring (Lord willing).