my gals are not eating their oyster shells

My Very First 6 Chickens

*~* Livin', Lovin', Learnin' *~*
May 5, 2021
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Hello Chicken friends! I never see my chickens eat the oysters shells. Not really an issue b/c i thought they only eat them when they need them and their behavior and eggs are all normal. Today after Rosie laid her egg, It was soft!!! It looked completely normal, except that shell was soft! i feed the 5 girls 2 egg shells a day and they enjoy that, and their food does have calcium too. i threw the egg on the ground and the girls ate every last bite. Rosie was first in line too. Should I be concerned? i'm about 95% sure i know the chicken, so thats good, i can watch her now. could it be just a fluke and sometimes these things happen? Thanks a lot in advance. I hope my chicken is ok.

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An alternative to try that some chickens like better, would be crushed up egg shells. If you try it and they prefer it, you can mix the crushed egg shells with the oyster shell in your oyster shell dispenser, and that'll give them more options for calcium.
I do give them about 2 crushed egg shells a day thrown around the run but was considering crushing them and putting them in a free choice dish for them. Would that be too much? Also, i have never had any issue with my 5 gals eating their eggs, so an occasional egg tossed in the run, well, i'll take my chances i guess. Through the winter i was giving them scrambled eggs every other day. I was happy to see the soft egg giver - Rosie eating most of the egg. She was peckin' any gal that got too close too. Except her 2 friends Big and Delicious. They could stay. Patient took off with the shell and the rest is history. Today is a new day and my soft egg giver Rosie seems normal. I checked the camera late last night to see where she roosted and observed her droppings this AM. I think it was a fluke! So my question... If you read this far, lol, should i offer free choice crushed egg shells mixed with some oyster shells or just the egg shells free choice? I feel they eat the egg shells even if they dont need calcium just because they find them scattered in the run and they are super bright amongst the run material. Hey, thanks for your time. I always appreciate all of you and your input. Have a nice day and may your flocks thrive always!!
 

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If you read this far, lol, should i offer free choice crushed egg shells mixed with some oyster shells or just the egg shells free choice?
I would probably offer both, maybe in separate dishes so the chickens do not throw out one kind trying to find the other kind (which could happen no matter which kind they prefer.)

I feel they eat the egg shells even if they dont need calcium just because they find them scattered in the run and they are super bright amongst the run material.
Since you are only giving 2 eggshells among 5 chickens, I am not surprised they are eating it all. Let them have as much as they want, and you will probably start seeing some leftovers.

Each hen needs about 2 eggshells worth of calcium per day. For 5 hens, that would be 10 shells per day! Of course, they do not really get all their calcium from eggshells-- some is in their food, and they may be eating oyster shell as well. But I really would not worry about them eating "too many" eggshells.
 
I would probably offer both, maybe in separate dishes so the chickens do not throw out one kind trying to find the other kind (which could happen no matter which kind they prefer.)


Since you are only giving 2 eggshells among 5 chickens, I am not surprised they are eating it all. Let them have as much as they want, and you will probably start seeing some leftovers.

Each hen needs about 2 eggshells worth of calcium per day. For 5 hens, that would be 10 shells per day! Of course, they do not really get all their calcium from eggshells-- some is in their food, and they may be eating oyster shell as well. But I really would not worry about them eating "too many" eggshells.
Thank you NatJ. I value your opinion. Today i set up a little spot for free choice egg shells as well as oyster shells. 🐓❤️
 
I do give them about 2 crushed egg shells a day thrown around the run but was considering crushing them and putting them in a free choice dish for them. Would that be too much? Also, i have never had any issue with my 5 gals eating their eggs, so an occasional egg tossed in the run, well, i'll take my chances i guess. Through the winter i was giving them scrambled eggs every other day. I was happy to see the soft egg giver - Rosie eating most of the egg. She was peckin' any gal that got too close too. Except her 2 friends Big and Delicious. They could stay. Patient took off with the shell and the rest is history. Today is a new day and my soft egg giver Rosie seems normal. I checked the camera late last night to see where she roosted and observed her droppings this AM. I think it was a fluke! So my question... If you read this far, lol, should i offer free choice crushed egg shells mixed with some oyster shells or just the egg shells free choice? I feel they eat the egg shells even if they dont need calcium just because they find them scattered in the run and they are super bright amongst the run material. Hey, thanks for your time. I always appreciate all of you and your input. Have a nice day and may your flocks thrive always!!
This is an awesome photo, it looks as if a professional camera was used! Or maybe your chickens are just that photogenic 🤩
A year or so ago, I found out via BYC that dandelion leaves also contain calcium, which the chickens occasionally eat if available. Just an interesting fact, but not to be substituted for oyster shell/egg shells of course!
 
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should i offer free choice crushed egg shells mixed with some oyster shells or just the egg shells free choice?
I would offer both (and you may have to try it both in one dish, or 2 separate dishes, and see how they react), mainly because oyster shell is a better source of calcium, but some chickens don't like to eat it, so some calcium in the form of eggshell is still better than nothing.

And glad to hear Rosie is doing better. I wouldn't worry about an occasional soft shell but when you start seeing them with more regularity, that's a concern.
 

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