Hens are eating the chick grower and now producing strange eggs. What do I do?

[runt325]

yep

 

[kjimenez]

So how do I keep the babies from eating the oyster?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They won't eat it cause they have no interest in it. Hens only eat some when they feel the need for additional calcium.

You should always keep oyster shell available. If you have active layers and they are fed an all flock feed (1% calcium), they'll eat quite a bit. If they are fed layer (4% calcium)feed they won't eat much.

The reason to keep it available all the time is that it isn't as simple as 1% vs. 4%. Some hens lay every day, while others may only lay 3 or 4 a week. The latter won't need as much calcium as the former. It's all about how much egg shell is being produced.

 

[kjimenez]

I did not know that and I have had chickens for about five years. Thank you so very much for explaining it to me. So I'm still a little confused on what I should do with the flock I have now. Should I feed everyone chicken starter and put out the Oystershell or should I separate the babies and Mama back over to the other side? I was hoping to have mama integrate them so that I didn't have to. But I've done it plenty of times before so I could. Then everyone would eat their own food. Is chick starter and Oystershell enough for the hens?

 

[joshuats99]

You can either separate them or give everyone chick starter with additional oyster shell. Either way would be fine I think.