No egg but large wet mess in the sand with one gooey slimy spot

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ChickenCanoe said:
Calcium content is dependent on what birds are being fed. If producing a feed for laying hens, it will be about 4% calcium. It will be about 1% calcium for all other birds.
Calcium content really has no effect on feed cost. As aart said, oyster shell in bulk is cheap and most feed companies don't use oyster shell but rather a mineral source of calcium carbonate.
The cost of feed is more influenced by protein and the quality of the primary ingredients like grains and legumes.
More expensive feeds will list the ingredients by actual feedstuff like corn, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, peas, etc.. By contrast, cheaper feeds will have things like grain products, processed grain by-products listed.
Click to expand...
Ok, got it. Thank you so much
 
ChickenCanoe said:
Oyster Strong system merely replaces some of the calcium carbonate in all layer feeds with large particle oyster shell. The amount of calcium is still the same. Layena has between 3.25% and 4.25% Ca and 0.42% P while their omega3 feed has between 3.5% and 4.5% Ca to 0.45% P.
Those numbers are similar to layer feed produced by any manufacturer - except that Purina uses some larger particle size Ca.
As @oldhenlikesdogs said, productive rate of the hen makes a lot of difference. Regardless of the brand of feed or how it is formulated, a hen producing 6 or 7 egg shells a week needs more Ca than a hen producing 2 egg shells a week.
Hence the need to supplement if you have a variety of hens producing differing numbers.
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I have extra shells out however, I personally wrote purina and asked them about this they said pull the extra shells they don't need it. I have yet to find a single person in any forum who feeds the same way so I don't get into feed arguments with people.
 
Taylorbrood said:
I have extra shells out however, I personally wrote purina and asked them about this they said pull the extra shells they don't need it. I have yet to find a single person in any forum who feeds the same way so I don't get into feed arguments with people.
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I went to the feed store and at first i saw a 5 pound bag of oyster shells for $5 and it wa really small and I was like blahhhhhhhh and then I saw if you buy 50 pounds in bulk it's 14 bucks so I got it, kept it separate from the food, and figured I'd let it be a choice. Maybe if their bodies need it they'll crave it? hmm
 
Taylorbrood said:
I have extra shells out however, I personally wrote purina and asked them about this they said pull the extra shells they don't need it. I have yet to find a single person in any forum who feeds the same way so I don't get into feed arguments with people.
Click to expand...
I don't know why they would ask your to pull the OS if it is a separate container.
They are promoting their feed as a large particle calcium source so that may be why.

Amy Carter said:
I went to the feed store and at first i saw a 5 pound bag of oyster shells for $5 and it wa really small and I was like blahhhhhhhh and then I saw if you buy 50 pounds in bulk it's 14 bucks so I got it, kept it separate from the food, and figured I'd let it be a choice. Maybe if their bodies need it they'll crave it? hmm
Click to expand...
Spot on!
 
I agree with @aart and @ChickenCanoe btw, my co-op sells 50# of OS for $6.00 and they sell a 5# bag for $5.00, but they don't advertise the large bag. They also sell two brands of chicken sized grit in 50# bags. They advertise the $26 bag, but also carry the $16 gran-I-grit. Don't be shy about asking if they have a cheaper solution. granite is granite, quartz is quartz, etc. If you have a quarry near you its likely your cheapest solution for grit. There are several charts out there but here's one on grit size.

When looking at your feed label you might see things like: Aragonite, limestone, and oyster shell. They are all calcium sources. I have yet to pin down why, but a lot of nutritionists mix two sources (maybe CC knows why).

I am a feed snob and I am cheap as well. I'm also anti pesticide, chemical and herbicide. If I don't want it in my body, then I don't want to feed it to the chickens. Some people are allergic to soy while most are actually allergic to the chemicals used to process soy, I'm neither—yet I'm anti-chemical, so I go for non-GMO whole roasted soy. I also don't want to feed my birds chicken or other poultry products and I want their fish to be good quality fish. So I drive my feed mill crazy by starting the conversation with: "your nutritionist is fired. I'll tell you exactly what I want in my feed and want to know where the grains come from. Would like the farmer's email address too if you don't mind." My vitamin pack, fish meal, kelp and aragonite all come from Fertrell because I know them, we have similar philosophies and I know the source of their products.

Back to being cheap... I pay $11-$12/50# bag for my feed. Since it's a custom blend, minimum order is a ton, which isn't a big deal as I go through 50# a day. Winter and spring are my worst two seasons as I put non-breeders on a holding formula, and breeders on different formulas. Then my starters are simply a nightmare. I've actually found it more cost effective to order a ton of mixed starters from a mill in VA shipped to me in TN than trying to figure out how to custom blend at the various stages of life.

I guess the short answer to this long dissertation is that feed can be as simple or complicated as your goals dictate. In the end, find what works best for you and run with it.
 

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