Oyster shell question?

[Messipaw]

Hi All,
My hens are not particularly fond of oyster shells. Do i have to put them in a dish alone? I see everyone always uses an "oyster shell dispenser/dish". Can i mix the oyster shells with a vegetable snack or does it need to be served alone?
I do feed them their own eggs shells cracked up in a scratch mix and they eat that with no problem.
My concern is with one of my BR's-she laid a soft shell egg. this only happened twice with my flock of six. Once after a hawk scare and yesterday-we had some wind and heavy rain. From what I've been reading heavy rain can really stress out our hens.
Thank you.

 

[Kelsie2290]

They really don't need that much extra oyster shell, especially if you are feeding a Layer feed. Generally they recommend offering it alone so they don't accidentally get too much calcium. The only time I would mix it in their food on a regular basis is with old hens that are laying thin shelled eggs, with them they sometimes don't seem to get enough from Layer or eat enough on their own. Occasional shell less eggs usually have nothing to do with calcium levels, they are usually just a glitch in the egg laying system like you are seeing with what The Poultry Site calls "disturbances".
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

 

[Messipaw]

They really don't need that much extra oyster shell, especially if you are feeding a Layer feed. Generally they recommend offering it alone so they don't accidentally get too much calcium. The only time I would mix it in their food on a regular basis is with old hens that are laying thin shelled eggs, with them they sometimes don't seem to get enough from Layer or eat enough on their own. Occasional shell less eggs usually have nothing to do with calcium levels, they are usually just a glitch in the egg laying system like you are seeing with what The Poultry Site calls "disturbances".
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ndbook/16/thinshelled-eggs-and-shellless-eggs

Thank you Kelsi, I'll check out the link now.