Mixed grit and oyster shells

[Gopeckgo]

I like to keep grit and os separate, but if what you are doing seems to be working out just fine, I don't really see a need to "fix it".

And yes, I think chickens can differentiate between the 2.

Do you have a link to the article?

Thanks!

I will look for the article. Thanks

 

[Gopeckgo]

I think it's better to have them separate for 2 reasons:

1) To ensure birds can easily take only what they need to take.

2) So you can monitor consumption level in case that's ever needed (like I can tell with a glance when birds are ready to start laying again... or when they're all shutting down, by monitoring the level of oyster shell).

This probably is stupid to ask - but can you explain further about what the level of grit vs shell consumption tells you? My oldest chickens rarely ate any grit or shells so I didn’t even used to offer much but my youngest group eats a lot of it and I fill it frequently

 

[Gopeckgo]

I like to keep grit and os separate, but if what you are doing seems to be working out just fine, I don't really see a need to "fix it".

And yes, I think chickens can differentiate between the 2.

Do you have a link to the article?

Thanks!

I didn’t find the article but it might have come from AI because this is what came up when I did a search for the article

 

[Mother of Chaos]

This probably is stupid to ask - but can you explain further about what the level of grit vs shell consumption tells you? My oldest chickens rarely ate any grit or shells so I didn’t even used to offer much but my youngest group eats a lot of it and I fill it frequently

Just a vocabulary note: in the US, “grit” is generally used to refer to the coarse sand and small stones that birds eat to help digestion. It isn’t considered a calcium source. “Shell” is used for, well, shell, whether oyster or egg, and it’s digested for the calcium source.

Either term is fine, but when you’re comparing notes with other posters, it’s good to clarify which meaning of “grit” is being used.

So, that aside, I often have egg shells available, but I ALWAYS have flaked oyster shells. Egg shells are great for a quick calcium boost, and oyster shells for the duration.