Still need oyster shells?

The grower won't give them enough calcium, so yes you need oyster shells. If you are feeding all layer then I would still recommend having some oyster shells for them because they might want extra.

You might want to look into a rollaway nest.

They occasionally will lay an egg without a shell and yes it does get eaten. If you have ONE (but not the whole flock) doing it all the time it might be an issue of not enough calcium, or not.

 

First of all, if your girls are laying they should get straight layer ration. I wouldn't worry about the rooster, he'll do just fine on layer. Yes I would provide oyster shell. My birds free range, but I notice that at this time of year they eat a LOT more. I figure they were getting most of their dietary needs in insects, baby snakes, snails etc, and now the buffet has really slowed down. Plus they use more energy in cold weather.

I don't like to keep 2 kinds of feed - I only have 9 birds and in summer they barely eat it fast enough to keep it from spoiling.

 

remember that if you provide oyster shells - free choice - they will eat the oyster shells if they need/want them and ignore them if they don't. Oyster shells are pretty inexpensive. if you put them in a separate cage cup to feed, you will always know exactly how much they have available. Another thing to consider is to feed back their own eggshells...it is a wonderful source of calcium for your chooks.

It is a good idea to put 1 Tablespoon per gallon of Apple Cider Vinegar in the chickens water, because it helps them to absorb the calcium - (I suppose partly depending on the pH of the water that you provide them). They also need vitamin D3 for good eggshells. Most likely that vitamin will be provided in your feed mix.

 

When feeding my egg shells back to my girls, I cook them first. I don't have a microwave, but you could even put the shells in the micro or in a toaster oven. I then like to crumble them down and put them in their feed containers or scramble them up with an egg.... but not in a nonstick pan, because the broken shells scratch the pan.

I do that so they don't know what they're eating. I don't want them to get into the habit of eating their own eggs because they associate eggs with a food source, yanno?