Oyster Shell......yes or no?

[mtnhomechick]

I used to give it all the time. I ran out for awhile and I just have grit and the shells seem just as hard without the oyster shell. Wondering what you all think.

 

[RickiHupp]

Yes I would feed both oyster and grit. They do 2 differently things. The oyster shell aids in egg shell development and makes the egg stronger.

 

[chookchick]

The chickens will only eat the oyster shell if they need it. They do have reserves in their bones and can draw on that if needed, but I don't think it is a good idea to depend on that, or to depend completely on a layer feed. It may take a while for a deficiency to show up.

 

[NatureWithMe]

I don't like oyster shell because I don't like the idea of ingesting shellfish, so don't give it to my chickens. I use their own egg shells, ground up so fine that they are not recognizable.

I just explained how to do it on my blog: we boil the egg shells to sanitize them, then place in grinder (could use mortar and pestle and grind manually), then the ground shells can be fed free choice.

The reason to grind fine is to keep the chicken from knowing it is egg shells so they don't start pecking the newly laid eggs.