My Rhode Island Red is Laying strange eggs & I cannot figure out what is going on.

Any concerns about residual salt?

I was definitely slightly concerned about that when I first got the idea. I've thought about rinsing it somehow, but it seems like too much work. I always let it drain of any sea water and air dry, but I'm guessing a good bit of the salts stay with it in that case. They gobble the stuff up way faster than oyster shell from the store and I haven't had a problem with it in the couple years that I've been using it. I like to think that it's just extra electrolytes, but I have no way to confirm that. My hens go through about 400lbs of it per year. Which comes to about 3lbs per year each. And the shells are strong and consistent (unless I forget to fill their shell feeder for a couple weeks). I was spending way too much on bagged oyster shell before, which is why I decided to start collecting it myself.

My chick/broiler grit also comes from the low tide shore line, just a different spot that I have found collects the perfect size grit. I only started using that this year. I've been mixing it in to the broiler food at about 1/2 cup per 25lbs and haven't had any issues (knock on wood). They seem to be growing faster than most years, but maybe just because the weather has cooperated. :thumbsup
 
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