Oyster shell or not?

[tdc1999]

First time raising chickens, got them in June and they started laying first week of December. They all said the first eggs would be a little soft and deformed; but mine have been perfect from day one. Everyone says that I should be feeding them oyster shell. I feed laying pellets, scratch, and scraps from the house. Do they really need oyster shell?

 

[foreverlearning]

If you have a mixed age flock and have everyone on chick, grower, or game feed then you would. The fact that you are feeding them layer and have no problems means that it is already mixed in your feed and you won't need it unless you have a problem.

 

[Mahlzeit]

The layer feeds will have some calcium in them and a lot of times that is enough for chickens to lay strong eggs however even if they don't necessarily need the oyster shell I still leave it out for them free choice. They do not eat it like feed they take some as they feel the need it. So the oyster shell lasts quite a while.

 

[Happy Chooks]

They need oyster shell (or baked egg shells) fed back to them for the calcium to make strong shells. They will take it as they need it.

 

[donrae]

Your layer feed has enough calcium in it. I highly doubt commercial flocks are supplemented oyster shell, etc, just layer feed. That's what it's formulated for, to be a complete feed for laying hens.

New layers CAN lay funky eggs, doesn't mean they all WILL. Younger hens especially have a goodly supply of calcium in their bodies. My experience is my older hens of high production breeds are the ones that want extra calcium. Makes sense to me as they've been using their supply for years. Young birds are still well stocked.