OYSTER SHELLS

[ChickNanny13]

I have NOT been able to find "crushed" Oyster Shells here on the Big Island/Hawaii ... Have had to resort to the "manufactured" Oyster Shells/Coral (white pea sized). That's all that's being sold here at WalMart and the feed stores (only 2 on this side of the Island). My girls (3) have been laying and provided with the white stuff since they started laying Aug 2020. One of them started laying a funny shaped egg since Dec 2020, like it's having difficulty coming out/gets stuck. On the 8th of this month, she laid a soft shelled egg, an other the week after, two last week.

I have always fed the crushed shells in the past but been told by the workers at the feed store, it's Covid & they haven't been able to get any. I found "crushed" OS on Amazon (Scratch & Peck), I purchased just as an experiment. It's been a week and since feeding them the crushed, she hasn't laid any soft shelled eggs plus yesterday I noticed her egg shape is back to normal.

So my question to all of you ... What kind of Oyster Shells are you feeding; crushed or "white peas"? Have you noticed any difference with egg shells?
I was going to cull her thinking it was her reproductive system starting to be an issue, she'll be a year in March and I've never had this issue before. I'm on the fence deciding to keep her & maybe it is the OS or send her to my friend when she thins out her flock next month. Your opinions/advice always welcomed ...

Thank you all in advance
Pic of Dove's odd shaped eggs ...

@aart @azygous @casportpony @Eggcessive @Kiki @rosemarythyme @ @Wyorp Rock

 

[Kiki]

I do not buy oyster shell.
I choose to feed my birds a layer type feed to prevent giving them the option to eat or not eat added calcium. Sorry.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Is that egg a normal shelled egg? It looks like a body check to me, which happens when the egg is turned internally before its laid. Have you tried feeding their eggshells back to them? Most of my hens prefer crushed eggshells. I also supply the rock looking oyster shells but I notice they tend to pick out the crushed eggshells. My Pekin duck loves the rock oyster shell but she's the only one.

 

[Weeg]

I feed Starter and offer white pea OS (I think its white pea, its white and square? ) on the side. I would feed flaked, (less processed) but my feed store only carry's white pea.
My hens eat it without an issue, and eggs seem fine.
Maybe your hens just aren't used to the different OS. Maybe sprinkle some treats on top of it to show them what it is. If they eat a bit they should figure it out pretty quickly.

 

[Eggcessive]

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...hnryvDcRQpI2XGRd4gdxSLn9f4DDCzwc5AhqObPmtfwmf
This is what I have always used, and when my hens were still laying, I also fed back crushed egg shells. That looks like one of the common egg shell abnormalities, maybe a body checked egg. Here is a link with other shell problems and causes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[Weeg]

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/...hnryvDcRQpI2XGRd4gdxSLn9f4DDCzwc5AhqObPmtfwmf
This is what I have always used, and when my hens were still laying, I also fed back crushed egg shells. That looks like one of the common egg shell abnormalities, maybe a body checked egg. Here is a link with other shell problems and causes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

Thats what my OS looks like. Works just fine for me.

 

[azygous]

You might be interested in knowing the different kinds of calcium there are. Oyster shell is exactly the same kind of calcium as egg shells - calcium carbonate. It's one of three kinds of calcium and is highest in calcium. It doesn't matter if the calcium carbonate is from an oyster shell washed up on the beach or in a bag of "manufactured" oyster shell or a bag of real oyster shells crushed.

Here's my tutorial:

There are three different sources of calcium, all different, all digested and absorbed at varying rates of effectiveness. The most common source is calcium carbonate. This is what egg shells, oyster shell, and calcite derived calcium supplements are. It's the highest in calcium, but it's the most difficult to digest and absorb. Some hens absorb it so slowly and inefficiently that it's not able to adequately supply their shell gland. So, they often produce shell-less eggs or very thin shell eggs.

The second kind of calcium is calcium gluconate. It comes from fruits and vegetables. It's not very high in calcium and still hard to digest and absorb.

The third kind of calcium is calcium citrate. It's the by-product of the manufacturing process of making citric acid. This form of calcium is very easy to digest and absorb. For this reason, it works much, much faster than the other two types of calcium. This is the form of calcium that's best to use when a hen is having reproductive issues from the relatively minor one of shell quality to the most serious and life threatening one of egg binding.

One calcium citrate tablet with vitamin D given right into the beak once a day until the issue is resolved is what I strongly recommend. Here's what to buy.

Calcium citrate is not meant for daily use as a calcium source, only a temporary intense calcium boost in a reproductive crisis. Good quality oyster shell is still the very best source of calcium you can provide for laying hens. But be sure they're getting the large oyster shell particles and not the powdery residue left in the bottom of the container as it runs through a hens system much too fast to be properly absorbed. The larger particles remain much longer in the digestive tract allowing for much greater absorption. This will help to assure your hen is keeping her calcium stores topped off and will have less tendency to have egg issues.

 

[3KillerBs]

I give my birds back their own eggshells and, after discovering that the 40(?)lb bag of "calcium grit" was less than twice the price for over three times the weight I switched to that stuff.

It's grey and looks more like crushed limestone than crushed shell, but seems to be doing the job well because all the egg shells are nice and sturdy.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use the large flake type oyster shell (so actual smashed oyster shell pieces). Haven't been able to get the Scratch & Peck brand since Covid started so I currently have a bag of Small Pet Select brand that I got from Amazon, and that's a little chunkier/less dusty, so that has my approval.

Most of my layers will eat OS readily as needed, a couple won't or won't eat enough and I'll manually supplement them as needed by mixing powdered oyster shell in with a small amount of wet or fermented feed. It's a bit of micromanagement but I have the time to micromanage.

Personally I wouldn't cull for oddball eggs but we also tolerate freeloaders around here.

 

[Geckolady]

I give my birds back their own eggshells and, after discovering that the 40(?)lb bag of "calcium grit" was less than twice the price for over three times the weight I switched to that stuff.

It's grey and looks more like crushed limestone than crushed shell, but seems to be doing the job well because all the egg shells are nice and sturdy.

Glad to hear that. Somebody on Craigslist has a bag they got from TSC they want to get rid of. I plan to pick it up after work.