Oyster shell question

[JubileeFarmer]

Three of your pullets are reddening up, especially the one on the far left of the photo, so they might start laying sooner than you expect. You have at least one that's not reddening up yet so she may wait a while to start laying. I would recommend offering them oyster shell now. They will only eat what they need. If they don't need it yet they will ignore it until they do. Wait until the fourth one reddens up before giving them layer feed. She doesn't need the extra calcium right now.

 

[alinas2010]

Three of your pullets are reddening up, especially the one on the far left of the photo, so they might start laying sooner than you expect. You have at least one that's not reddening up yet so she may wait a while to start laying. I would recommend offering them oyster shell now. They will only eat what they need. If they don't need it yet they will ignore it until they do. Wait until the fourth one reddens up before giving them layer feed. She doesn't need the extra calcium right now.

You’re a saint, thank you for replying. The one on the far left seemed to grow big comb/wattles overnight, I was wondering if it wouldn’t be too much longer for her

 

[rosemarythyme]

Really doesn't hurt to have oyster shell available at any age - generally they'll sample it, decide they don't need it, and ignore it until later.

As far as smashing up your own shells, no reason you can't, but I don't know how difficult that might be.

 

[alinas2010]

Really doesn't hurt to have oyster shell available at any age - generally they'll sample it, decide they don't need it, and ignore it until later.

As far as smashing up your own shells, no reason you can't, but I don't know how difficult that might be.

Thank you, I appreciate the advice. I will be crushing (trying to, anyways) some up for them this weekend. I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

 

[raingarden]

I suspect you are going to really hate crushing oyster shell. Round up the scrap pieces of hardware cloth for sieving. Another vote for using good eye protection.

 

[alinas2010]

I suspect you are going to really hate crushing oyster shell. Round up the scrap pieces of hardware cloth for sieving. Another vote for using good eye protection.

I suspect y’all are gonna be right about that

 

[BelovedBirds]

My chickens wouldn’t eat them, one chocked on it, and they came smelling like death

did she have access to water? How large were these pieces? Hens need access to oyster shells for their calcium intake. They could run into issues if they dont get enough, or get too much, from their feed.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hens will lay when they lay, neither sooner nor later. "Start of Lay" for a particular breed is more like a strong suggestion, +/- a couple weeks, not a date to mark on the calendar in advance.

You can put down oyster shell any time.

There is no need to switch over to "layer" feed, and some decent reasons not to. Extra calcium won't cause birds to lay sooner.

Put your eyes on, wrap oyster shell in a heavy towel, between stiff leather, old denim, etc then crush. A car tire might work, with the weight of a car above it (depending on what you drive) - or a sledge, a tamping tool, etc. You aren't trying to powder it, you are trying to crush it. Odor is addressed (before crushing of course) by washing with a high pressure hose and then either baking in the oven, baking at the fire side, or baking in hot sun (last, least best option). A sieve for sorting is good - its just a stretched frame with some 1/4" HW cloth affixed, but if you haven't got one, aggitating crushed shell on a tilted board or similar will cause it to settle by weight - heaviest to the bottom, lightest (and smallest) to the top, just like panning for gold (or an archological dig)

 

[alinas2010]

Thank you, this is very insightful. I hadn’t thought about baking the shells, I am definitely going to do that. Was also wondering how small to crush them, you’ve answered that as well, appreciate it. I love my girls, I just am not wanting to run into some of the horror situations I see on here where hens end up egg bound and get infections, etc. hoping I provide them everything they need in time for laying

 

[NatJ]

aggitating crushed shell on a tilted board or similar will cause it to settle by weight - heaviest to the bottom, lightest (and smallest) to the top, just like panning for gold (or an archological dig)

I agree, except mine come out with the big pieces on top and the little pieces on the bottom.

I've seen it with grit, purchased oyster shell, pieces of crushed glass, and bags of chicken feed, and it's been the same every time: the tiny bits settle to the bottom, and a bunch of bigger chunks rise to the top.

(Adding water makes it behave differently, because some of the smallest pieces are small enough to float for a while, and do end up on top. My big-on-top results are most obvious when the materials are dry.)