Background:
I have 7 chickens that are 6 1/2 months old. I have one girl so far that is laying. I feed them Starter Grower from Purina. The other 6 girls aren't laying yet.
I have understood I shouldn't feed them a layer feed until they are all laying because giving them extra calcium before they start laying could be bad for them. I assumed that if I just put out some oyster shell that they would only eat it if they needed it. Meaning I just figured it was probably only going to be eaten by the one that is currently laying (if her body needed it).
Well, I put about a cup of oyster shell in a shallow dish yesterday, and when I come out to the run today, it was all gone.
Hopefully it won't do any damage, but should I just not worry about the extra calcium right now and just wait for the others to start laying?
I have 7 chickens that are 6 1/2 months old. I have one girl so far that is laying. I feed them Starter Grower from Purina. The other 6 girls aren't laying yet.
I have understood I shouldn't feed them a layer feed until they are all laying because giving them extra calcium before they start laying could be bad for them. I assumed that if I just put out some oyster shell that they would only eat it if they needed it. Meaning I just figured it was probably only going to be eaten by the one that is currently laying (if her body needed it).
Well, I put about a cup of oyster shell in a shallow dish yesterday, and when I come out to the run today, it was all gone.
Hopefully it won't do any damage, but should I just not worry about the extra calcium right now and just wait for the others to start laying?