Oyster Shell as grit??

[idahobird]

Not sure why I havn't thought of this before but can oyster shell serve the same purpose as grit does for their digestion???

 

[Kevin565]

No. Oyster Shells should only be used for calcium purposes.

 

[aoxa]

Reading up on this a bit, says yes. It does provide them with grit. As long as you don't have any roosters to worry about in terms of grit. You don't want your boys eating the oyster shell, as added calcium is dangerous to their health. I'm not sure how much they would eat to provide them with the grit they need. Maybe it wouldn't harm them. I would have to research this a bit more.

If it's only hens you are concerned about, it should be fine!

Nutritional Supplements
Along with actual food, you will have to provide a few more things for your chickens so they can eat properly and stay healthy. The first is grit. Since chickens have no teeth, they use small stones to help crush the seeds and grains they eat. These stones are kept in the chickens gizzard and act like little grinding stones each time they eat.

Chickens can usually find small stones in their pens, but if they are in too small a space, they can eventually exhaust the local pebble supply. So you should provide some grit for them. You can purchase grit but any kind of small gravel should work fine. Oyster shell pieces make a good grit that will also supply some calcium.