My girls aren't touching their Oyster Shells

[aart]

My hens love their shell, so I don't thinks its quite correct to say that chickens don't like it.

Ditto Dat!

Mine eat it up regularly....when they are in lay.
When they are not in lay, the OS consumption goes way down.
The only time I've had trouble is with newly laying pullets that were segregated from the older birds. Then I would sprinkle some around on the ground with some scratch grains, and sprinkle a down pieces on top of their feed. It didn't take them too long to catch on to the OS in the small feeder.

 

[Spetznaaz]

Why not eat them? Wash them well and you'll be fine. You can still give the chickens the shells, without wasting the eggs themselves. They only need the shells anyway.


You're right, it's not 100% but the only rule you need to keep in mind is that there's always eggshells in the bowl. If they start to run out and you don't have any to replace them with, then you can ask a neighbor to donate their eggshells from cooking, or if you buy eggs when your hens are molting or slowed down/stopped for winter, then save those shells, too, to use when the hens resume laying in the spring. My hens stop completely in winter and I have to buy eggs, but I save all the shells (bake them to speed up the drying process, then store in jars - you can't store them fresh and moist or the egg residue will go bad and stink, so you have to dry them first, and a quick trip through the oven speeds that up).

Oyster shell is a very modern invention when it comes to chickens, and it's very regional. Not everybody has access to it. I grew up rural (in Europe) and we hadn't even heard of oyster shell back in the day, we just gave the chickens their eggshells back. That's what I do now, too - save the shells from my own eggs and any eggs I buy. I've never used oyster shell or layer feeds with added calcium, and I don't get soft shelled eggs.

I'm worried our chickens have toxoplasmosis due to me building their run on top of where all the cats poo (big mistake on my part) so i'm really concerned about dirty eggs, especially with their run being mud at the moment. I need to fill it with woodchip asap but the weather has been constant rain. It does seem like such a waste.

I'll definitely try giving them eggshells for calcium, thank you for all the info

My hens love their shell, so I don't thinks its quite correct to say that chickens don't like it.
As long as the shells of their eggs are good, they are probably getting enough from your soil.

The only thing is, i have no idea what a calcium deficient shell feels like compared to a normal shell. Is it something you can't really miss or something you need experience of?

 

[Sussex19]

The only thing is, i have no idea what a calcium deficient shell feels like compared to a normal shell. Is it something you can't really miss or something you need experience of?

I would say that its something that one can't really miss. If they feel nice and solid, and need a fairly good crack to break them, they're good. If they break if you squeeze them a bit hard by accident when collecting them, they are too thin. The shells will be more like paper, and they may get broken in the nesting box.

 

[K0k0shka]

I'm worried our chickens have toxoplasmosis due to me building their run on top of where all the cats poo (big mistake on my part) so i'm really concerned about dirty eggs, especially with their run being mud at the moment. I need to fill it with woodchip asap but the weather has been constant rain. It does seem like such a waste.

I'll definitely try giving them eggshells for calcium, thank you for all the info

Your chickens are a lot more likely to carry salmonella than toxoplasma - in fact, salmonella lives naturally in their gut. So chicken eggs should be viewed as contaminated as a default. Salmonella is a lot more dangerous to people than toxoplasma, with far more infections and hospitalizations per year. So I don't think the cats are the main problem here - the chickens themselves are dirtier, yet we keep chickens anyway. If you wash your eggs well and keep good hygiene in the kitchen, you should be fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens can get calcium from many sources. Some is in what we feed them either in their feed or treats. They can get calcium from some of the vegetation they eat or various creepy crawlies they catch. If the native rock is limestone or has high calcium content they can get plenty of calcium from the rocks they use as grit. Calcium in chicken feed often comes from ground up limestone.

Many of us use oyster shell to supplement calcium. My experience, which ties in with a lot of other people on this forum, is that if they need extra calcium for eggshells they tend to know it and eat the oyster shell if it is available. If they don't need it they don't eat it. Some of us regularly fill the oyster shell container, some of us hardly ever do. Oyster shell can last years, it doesn't go bad.

You are correct. If the only calcium they get is from their own egg shells it is a losing proposition. Their body does not digest everything they eat, some calcium goes straight through and out the back end. And they need some calcium for normal body function and maintenance. Somewhere around 1% calcium in their feed is sufficient for this if their feed is all they eat. It is not about what is in one bite, it is how many total grams of calcium is digested in their body each day and even that is averaged over a few days. If you feed them back their eggshells, that might be enough extra calcium to provide all they need. Mine typically don't eat their eggshells when offered back. They seem to be getting enough calcium from the limestone in my soil so they don't really need oyster shell or eggshells for their eggshells.

Occasionally you get a hen that is just not right. Either her instincts to eat extra calcium when needed are nto what they should be or her body does not process the calcium she eats properly. If you only have one hen that is having problems to me that is an individual chicken problem, not a flockwide problem. It is not a sign that you are doing anything wrong.

Your Grower analysis looks good to me. It is what I think grower should be and is very close to what I feed mine.

How to tell if your eggshells are as thick as they should be? Are you finding broken eggs in your nests? The hens walk on the eggs when they are getting on and off the nest. If they are not breaking they are strong enough to not break from that. How does the thickness compare to your other eggs or the eggs you buy at the store? Can you handle them without them breaking easily? I'm not going to suggest you get out a micrometer and check the thickness, I would not know what to tell you the correct number should be anyway. Some judgement is involved but basically if you are not having issues you are not having issues and probably don't need to fix anything.