Oyster shell necessary?

[gachickeeper]

I have 10 B.O girls at about 10 weeks. I know they are no where near laying yet but when they start is oyster shell needed along with their layer feed? If yes then do I mix it with their food in the feeder or give it seperately?

 

[CUDA]

When they start laying, either layer feed, or standard feed with oyster shells will do. You don't need to provide both at the same time.

 

[gachickeeper]

Oh, so the layer feed has the oyster shell in it?

 

[wendy]

when we started out with chickens the guy we bought them from sold them when they were about 2-3 months old. he said all that we needed to give was laying pellets and we bought ours from the same place that he bought his feed. which is a place that makes there own so it is local.

then i got on here and saw where people fed treats and eggshells. so that is what i did, give oatmeal, certain table scraps, fruit, etc.

mine have never gotten oyster shell and they wonderful hard egg shells!

wendy

 

[CUDA]

What both layer feed, and oyster shells, (and eggshells for that matter) all provide the extra calcium that hens need to help produce good solid egg shells when they are laying. The thing is, if you have birds mixed in with your laying birds that are not laying, or roosters, it is better for you to feed them standard feed, with oyster shells for the layers so not all your fowl will be eating extra calcium that they don't need. That is why you see people using it for the most part. Some feed layer feed, and oyster shells, but it really isn't necessary to. Too much calcium to birds who don't need it can be detrimental to their health down the road.

 

[gachickeeper]

Great! thanks for the info everybody!!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
When they start laying, dont give it to them before they start to lay, give them some each day in their food. I do that with my chickens. I use calcium chips, I get a 50# bag for around $9.00 versus a 5# bag of oyster shells for $5.99. They are just like oyster shells, only have more calcium.

 

[s6bee]

I give my hens layer crumble but I keep a dish of Oyster shell at their disposal. They eat it. It's not expensive and it lasts a while so it's not a big deal to give it to them. I like having the nice hard shells.