Providing extra calcium

[LeslieDJoyce]

Ridgerunner, those studies are great. I've been trying to answer the question "how much protein is too much?" for a while now. The "accounting" bias in so many poultry studies seem to focus more on "how little is too little?" and that's because protein is expensive compared to "filler" ingredients. Those studies stop measuring when the cost/benefit margin gets too narrow ... Thanks for sharing those links!

 

[Happy Chooks]

@Happy Chooks I heard that egg shells can work for calcium also. Would that work or just buy oyster shells

You can do that as well. Most people recommend baking them first to kill any bacteria on the membrane, then crush them. I just buy oyster shell. I get a 50 lb bag and it lasts quite a long time - I think it was $8 the last time I bought it.

<a href="/u/128645/Back2Roots" data-huddler-embed="href" data-huddler-embed-layout="inline">@Back2Roots</a> where do y'all get y'all's oyster shells? Do you have to buy oysters first or does the grocery store sell oyster shells

Your feed store, TSC or farm supply store will carry it. It is already crushed, just scoop and put in a dish on the side for them. Like Ridgerunner, I always have young chickens in my coop, so it's easiest for me to have it on the side. The babies don't need extra calcium. I also feed Flockraiser, which is good for poultry of all ages.

 

[nick lansford]

@Happy Chooks thank you so much!

 

[Michael Apple]

Oyster shell isn't that important from the first egg at around 5 months to 12 months of age. If one is feeding a properly formulated ration , he/she will notice most layer feed rations contain 2.25% or more calcium, the requirement for laying hens.

 

[muesky]

Another form of calcium is Diatomaceous Earth... I use DE as a wormer as well... It is a highly digestible calcium source...

 

[ghostwolf211]

I put mine on a layer mash with oyster shells and seeds mixed in at the feed mill at around 17 weeks

 

[redliprican123]

I love this!! Great info ,thank you all..

 

[SassysMom]

My chickens and ducks get either oyster shells or the shells from their eggs, depending on what I have. I'm always surprised at how fast they go through it.

 

[Kelsakat]

@Happy Chooks I heard that egg shells can work for calcium also. Would that work or just buy oyster shells

I was always taught not to feed them eggs in any form they can get in the nesting box, so no egg or yolks. It seemed whenever we forgot and was throwing scraps out and a couple eggshells slipped through, the chickens would eat their own eggs for the next day or two.
I would just use oyster shell. Good source of calcium and extra grit so to speak.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I was always taught not to feed them eggs in any form they can get in the nesting box, so no egg or yolks. It seemed whenever we forgot and was throwing scraps out and a couple eggshells slipped through, the chickens would eat their own eggs for the next day or two.
I would just use oyster shell. Good source of calcium and extra grit so to speak.

You can feed eggs; you just need to change them so they don't look like what comes out of the chicken's butt!

Hard boiling them then smashing them up (shells inluded) with a potato masher is the easiest way. You can also break them into a bowl, put the shells into the bowl too, and scramble them. Either way, the chickens will happily chow down and won't associate that yellow and white stuff they're eating with what's in the nest boxes. There's no way they could think they were the same thing.

You can also put your eggshells into a plastic bag and whack it with a rolling pin until the shells are itty bitty pieces. The chickens won't make a connection between those pieces and whole eggs, either.