How to get your hens to eat oyster shells

[NatJ]

Thanks. Yeah, I just meant for the times when they seem to need a boost, such as when I notice thin shells.

I've read of people who take the small bits (like flour) from the bottom of the oyster shell bag, mix it with a bit of feed and some water, and give it to the hens for a "treat."

Of course there are plenty of other methods that can work too, but that one does not require buying anything special, and it's easy to do. It's also easy to give to just one or a few hens (separate them from the flock for a few minutes to eat), if you don't want the entire flock to have the extra calcium (this might matter if you have chicks or roosters with the flock.)

If you are not already feeding layer feed, you could just switch to layer feed as a way to force them to eat calcium, since layer feed has more calcium than other feeds. (Not recommended if there are chicks in the flock eating the same feed, because the extra calcium is bad for chicks. But adding extra calcium to their normal food would also be a bad idea if there are chicks in the flock.)

 

[Neon8L]

Ahhh, oyster shells....i noticed a very soft shell at about 1 yr old. This was this past May. My alarm bells starting going. I have 5 GLW hens and feed layer feed with a side of manna pro oyster shells. I had noticed they wernt touching the oyster shell. I wondered why? Upon further investigation, i learned that not all 'oyster shells' are actually real oysters. I didnt research further, because, i had a feeling those perfectly white pebbles were just too white, and too perfect looking to be real oyster shells. My wheels starting turning and before i knew it, i was at Long Island, NY on a random beach collecting real oyster shells. I brought them home excited to crush them and offer them. I dont know if you have ever tried crushing oyster shells, but lets just say, i have never felt more connected to my caveman ancestors. Before crushing, i rinsed them thoroughly and let them sit in the sun for about a week. Crushing oyster shells is very interesting. They crush like nothing I have ever experienced. I thought i would easy breezy, crush to the size I want, perfect. Not so much tho. Anyway, i smashed that rock down 100 times on my dinner size plate of oysters. I was left with ideal pieces and lots of dust. Its very difficult to get the right size, but with only 5 hens, that dinner size plate of oyster shells left me with a nice, big, handful. I put it into my dispenser and was happy. Those girls devoured those shells . Eggs for the next 2 weeks had the hardest shells I had ever experienced. Awesome. Moving forward, they started eating less of them. Which was fine because eggs were good, and previously, i think they were consuming wayyy too much. Especially compared to the manna pro 'oyster' shells that sat for ages seemingly untouched. Upon reflection, i realized those first oyster shells had tiny tidbits of oyster still attached as well as some salt residue still there. Oh they loved that. Moving forward to current, i have the oyster shells in a dispenser with crushed egg shells as well. The oysters have lost their appeal to the degree as before when tidbits were attached, but i have not had an egg issue since that one time. I will be back at the beach early summer to collect more oyster shells! Good luck everyone. I hope your flock thrives ~ I love ya all

Real oyster shells
I like the idea of tiny tidbits of oyster still clinging to the shell making the shells irresistible. Warning: real oysters and oyster beds can be incubators for hepatitis A and B along with a host of pathogenic bacteria. Here along Gulf Coast’s warm waters we know to eat oysters only in months with an “r” when the water is cooler. Nowadays the Health Department monitors the beds and shuts them down when temps or pathogen counts are too high. If you’re going to use natural shells, boil those shells for a long time to kill pathogens. How long? I don’t know but those shells are thick and flaky. I would do it for at least 30 mins. All the minerals and iodine make it a real attractive healthy option.