Oyster shell?

[SweetSilver]

Calcium is just one piece of the soft shell problem. If the oyster shell alone fixes it, great. But if it doesn't, it could mean they are not getting enough vitamin D. That was the trouble with my girls, probably because in the dead of winter they were eating too many scraps (small flock) and scratch (too much from me becawse I wuv my chickeeebooodieeees!

) and less fortified-feed. Chickens also might be interested in it for grit, if they are not finding enough naturally. Depending on their feed, they might not need supplemental grit, but they still love eating it.

 

[Bettacreek]

Mine are free-range, and there's plenty of grit around here, so I'm fairly certain that they aren't using it just for grit purposes. The oyster shell seems to have solved the problem. So far, we're still getting an okay amount of sunlight to help with Vit D, well, if they convert cholesterol to Vit D like we do anyways. I'll have to keep an eye on it though, and if I continue to have problems, I'll grab some multivitamins for them.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Humans do it when Sunlight shines on their SKIN
That doesn't happen much with birds

 

[Bettacreek]

But every critter is different. Some animals can convert certain things into certain vitamins, while others cannot. We turn cholesterol into Vit D with sunlight. Maybe birds do, maybe they don't (I really don't know). Maybe they can create Vitamin D from something else, in their guts. Cats can turn protein into various vitamins. It's just all in how certain species convert different things, and I truely don't know how birds do it.