oyster shells from the beach

[NicolaT]

Hi all.

We live near the beach and I was wondering if it would be safe to collect the shellfish shells from the beach, boil and then crush them for our new P.O.L chickens????? We are giving them crushed oyster shells from the shop at the moment, but if I can collect from the beach - YAY.

Thanks all.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

So long as they're relatively clean there is no need to boil them. Just dry and crush well.

 

[krcote]

A.T. Hagan :

So long as they're relatively clean there is no need to boil them. Just dry and crush well.

x2​

 

[NicolaT]

Would any shells be ok from the beach or are there any shells to avoid???

 

[krcote]

I may avoid any shells that when crushed, turn out very sharp? Chickens aren't the brightest creatures, I wouldn't want them ingesting anything with pointy edges

 

[gumbii]

what about crushed coral..? i have a bucket of crushed coral from my old freshwater fishtank... it has more calcium than oystershells...

 

[mons02035]

I'm not an expert when it comes to shells and chickens but coral is very sharp as well. I also think that the oyster shells you but at the store have been tumbled which takes away the sharpness of the shell. IMHO, if you use actual fresh shells of any kind from the beach I would tumble them first. If you only had small amounts, you could use one of those small rock tumblers. You want the shells kind of sharp so it can do it's thing but you don't want it sharp enough that it gives the chicken little "paper" cuts on the chickens insides.