Oyster shell's

[City Farmer Jim]

Being a newbie, am I missing something in the care of our girls? We have 7.5(long broody hen story) of our 10 pullets laying eggs and have never offered our girls oyster shell's...are the shell's used for egg production or is it for general health care as well? I have assumed that oyster shell's were for production of egg shell quality. Our girls lay very robust shells and didn't see the need. The area we live in is a river delta with fertile soil and we have many snail shell's in all areas of the chicken runs and they free range our 1/3 of an acre also.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I rarely offer oyster shells to the flock. I will crush up some egg shells after using the egg. The flock with eat the oyster shells if they need it.

 

[MarkJr]

Do you feed layer feed or all flock?

 

[Aapomp831]

Being a newbie, am I missing something in the care of our girls? We have 7.5(long broody hen story) of our 10 pullets laying eggs and have never offered our girls oyster shell's...are the shell's used for egg production or is it for general health care as well? I have assumed that oyster shell's were for production of egg shell quality. Our girls lay very robust shells and didn't see the need. The area we live in is a river delta with fertile soil and we have many snail shell's in all areas of the chicken runs and they free range our 1/3 of an acre also.

Oyster shells are just an extra calcium “supplement” that you can put out if you ever notice any weak shelled eggs. If all your eggs are fine, then you don’t need them! Usually layer feed contains the calcium a hen needs to lay properly. Too much calcium can be a bad thing, so if you ever do offer it, offer it in a separate bowl so the hen can choose to eat it or not... they know when they need it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I use All Flock (see Sig for why) and free choice Oyster Shell.

and here I hoped this was a thread about getting oyster shell from the big pile behind a restaurant/bar, and how to process it so its safe and appropriately sized for one's birds...

/edit to express support for @rosemarythyme's post, below. Frommy (admittedly limited) experience, if they don't need it, they won't eats it, and they only play with it for a day or so - so a little insurance against an unseen need seems a reasonable precaution. Oyster shell is, thankfully, inexpensive and lasts forever.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would offer free choice oyster shell in a small dish, some hens may have higher calcium needs than others, where layer feed is not enough. If a layer does not have access to enough calcium, the calcium in the shell is pulled from their bones.

 

[Folly's place]

Oyster shells are a cheap supplement to offer, in that separate dish, in case any of your laying hens need it. here we feed an all flock feed, so the birds actually laying eggs do need it, and it's out there for them.
Mary

 

[City Farmer Jim]

I really appreciate all of your replies and think I will set out a free choice dish for them and they can eat it or not....ounce of prevention is less than a pound of cure...

 

[amk122284]

I have 10 hens and I am switching them over to all flock - higher protein. Do any of you that are more experienced have any advice to offer in terms of HOW much oyster shell they will approximately go through? I don't know if I should get the 5 lb back or the 50 lb bag lol, is the 5 lb bag going to last a week or 5 months, or maybe somewhere in between?

 

[black_cat]

I have 10 hens and I am switching them over to all flock - higher protein. Do any of you that are more experienced have any advice to offer in terms of HOW much they will approximately go through? I don't know if I should get the 5 lb back or the 50 lb bag lol, is the 5 lb bag going to last a week or 5 months, or maybe somewhere in between?

A 50 pound bag of layer feed lasted about 2 months for me, with only four hens, so I'd imagine it'd last a little less than a month for you. Don't know about all flock. It's probably cheaper in the long run to buy a bulk bag, instead of many small ones.