How long does it take for oyster shell to make my shells thicker?

[GracieN]

If I start feeding my chickens oyster shell how long will it take for their shells to get thicker?

Thanks for your help!

 

[chfite]

If the shells are thin now, it should take only a few days. If the shells are normal now, it won't make any difference. Calcium is a dietary need, not an enhancer, for layers. The hens will eat only what they need.

Chris

 

[Den in Penn]

It should help almost immediately. If they have a large deficit it may take a day or two.

 

[GracieN]

Ok! Thanks so much!!!

 

[Chris09]

If it's a calcium deficiency that is making the shell soft/thin then you should see a difference within 2 or 3 day.
I will also add that Vitamin D3, Phosphorus can effect egg shell quality, if either Vitamin D3 or Phosphorus is lacking in the diet the shell can be thin and of poor quality.

Chris

 

[KayTee]

Just for information, I gave my girls antibiotics dosed in oatmeal for a week (2 out of 3 were sneezing and had diarrhoea - it was what the vet prescribed). Ended up with mostly thin-shelled or no-shell eggs for over a week! Apparently oatmeal can affect the absorbtion of calcium (my girls free range and have a huge tub of oyster shell available, so the calcium they ingest is not in question). Within 4 or 5 days of stopping the antibiotics and oatmeal the eggs were back to normal. I don't know if it was due to the medicine or the oatmeal, but suffice to say that antibiotics are definitely a last resort, and I rarely give them oatmeal now, just to be on the safe side!

 

[Den in Penn]

KayTee: I think it was the antibiotics or their illness that was causing the thin shells. There are to many people who give their chickens oatmeal every day and haven't complained about shell problems, for oatmeal to be the problem with your hens.

 

[hennotrooster]

I give my girls warm oatmeal in this cold weather along with other foods and their regular feed (oyster shell always available) and sometimes I need to hit the shell extra hard to crack it. They even get rice some mornings which contains nothing but it is in addition to....the good stuff.

 

[Bodhisan]

I was wondering about this. Our three hens started laying in late January, and two months leading up to that, I supplemented the grower feed with egg shells. When we got the first egg, it seemed just fine - not extra thick, but not thin. As more eggs came, same thing, acceptable shell. There became a point, though, that they were gobbling down those egg shells, and I didn't think I had enough, so last Saturday, I bought a 50 lb. bag of oyster shells, and just in a few days, their shells became noticeably thicker. I just couldn't believe it could happen that quickly, but I found this thread (I was going to start a new one) to answer my question. I was wondering, too, why most people put their oyster shell in a container, as I just throw it on the ground like scratch.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Feeding a flock back their own eggshells water will help with calcium, but since they’re not perfect processors of calcium, adding additional calcium is a good move.