I have 7 girls and one juststarted laying 2 weeks ago the rest should be starting anyday now. I keep them in the run because I live close to the road and close to my neighbor and don't want them in their yard so I do not free rnage them. About 3 times a day I pull grass and feed it to them. I keep layer pellets and oyster shell avaliable at all time and feed them scratch once a day and various other treats. My question is how much grass can I feed them without compromising the integrity of the shells on the eggs?
If you're worried about them not getting enough calcium from eating other things besides their feed - you can get calcium chips or oyster shell - and offer that in a separate dish. They'll eat what they need. EDIT - sorry - read too quickly - my Bad ! You are offering oyster shell - so I wouldn't worry. They'll eat the oyster shell as they need it. Somehow, they know .... If the eggs start getting soft/weak - then just cut back on the other stuff. That's what I'd do anyway ...
Grass is only too much grass if you're one of those who think that grass equates to not needing to feed your chickens.
Caution on the grass... if its too long it can cause crop impaction. They usually tear it into manageable bites on their own, but they cant really do that if we give it to them long. We usually throw our clippings in...DH runs them over a few times so they are short pieces and they love it.
