food and oyster shell question

[henryetta]

Well, i feel like a REALL newbie at chickens but actually, i have had them in the country for 20 years. Now being in the city with chickens i feel it's such an all new thing. So, my question is, i just got my first and very beautiful brown egg from my girl and then i read on her Nutrina bag of lay crumbles, that she should now be getting oyster shell. I feel bad because i've never used it before but dont know if this is a "brand" thing or just what i should have been doing with any lay feed all those years. Also grit! My girls are free range on 1/3 acre all day do they still need that too? and if anyone has the"perfect" brand of lay food, i'd love to hear about it... Thanks so much for any info/advice on this.

 

[dykeswa]

The only thing that he might be talking about is to give them something in their crop to gringd the grain up we like to use a little ground granite in our feed this does not to much calcium build up on the egg shell so we can hatch them in a bator....
WAD

 

[lux_interior]

they oyster shell is to help make their egg shells strong

 

[dykeswa]

I understand that also but the eggs we get from our Buff O's are so thick you almost have to have a chainsaw for them that is why we use the granite they get plenty of calcium from their lay pellets,...
WAD