Substitute for Oyster Shell

[JaeG]

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/08/for-strong-eggshells-size-matters/

This is an interesting article that states studies (including this one: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-635X2005000200001&lng=en&tlng=en) have found the size of the supplement is very important because shell formation tends to happen overnight, so the larger particle size will be digested/dissolved more slowly, providing the hen with a continuous source.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

My chickens LOVE greens, they scarf them right down.
I do provide other sources of calcium, egg shells and oyster, but this may help you.
https://www.myfooddata.com/articles/high-calcium-vegetables.php

 

[JaeG]

I did find this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/oyster-shells-and-shellfish-allergy.465495/

Other than the last statement being false it should reassure you. Shellfish allergies are a reaction to the proteins in the meat of the animal. There's no protein in the shells so there's no reason it shouldn't be safe to use.

Here's another thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...upplements-affect-eggs.1072430/#post-16360881

 

[lazy gardener]

I did find this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/oyster-shells-and-shellfish-allergy.465495/

Other than the last statement being false it should reassure you. Shellfish allergies are a reaction to the proteins in the meat of the animal. There's no protein in the shells so there's no reason it shouldn't be safe to use.

Here's another thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...upplements-affect-eggs.1072430/#post-16360881

Agreed with you. That last statement is a gross error. I can eat lobster and shrimp and crab but am very allergic to scallops. B/C of this allergy, I'll not eat any mollusks. And I am very cautious when going out to eat, especially when it comes to eating fried foods (b/c the same oil vat that fries my haddock may also be used to fry scallops) I hadn't even thought of this allergy as it pertains to the discussion of oyster shell. I can handle any mollusk shell without issue. So, assume that a mollusk shell that is filtered through a chicken's digestive tract, is going to be a total non issue for me with the many eggs that I enjoy!!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It never ceases to amaze me the tripe that is dished out by feed store employees on a daily basis. I've refused to purchase medicated starter. Have never used it, never intend to use it. Several years ago, when I asked for unmedicated chick starter, the SS would argue with me that if I did not buy medicated feed, all of my chicks would die. My reply: "If you don't have unmedicated starter, I'll just go buy it from your competitor. Good by." Amazingly, within the last 2 years the management of this very store that told me I would be killing my chicks actually started offering unmedicated chick starter. Evidently, they are now willing to aid and abet in the murder of countless innocent chicks.

The best story I heard in this vein involved the robber Barron Cornelius Vanderbilt. It seems that one of Cornelius' customers got bitten by bed bugs on one of Vanderbilt's trains. The customer wrote a letter to Cornelius complaining bitterly about having to ride the train with bed bugs.

In due time the irate customer received a nice letter of apology that was almost fawning in its level of contrition over there being bed bugs on a Vanderbilt train. Unfortunately the effect was ruined when Vanderbilt's secretary forgot and included the note that Cornelius wrote to his secretary instructing him on how to handle this matter. "Here James," the note began, "Send this sorry SOB our standard bed bug letter."

 

[PirateGirl]

Agreed. Let's see a science based study.

Someone shared a great article with me once on this... I will look for it.

 

[PirateGirl]

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/08/for-strong-eggshells-size-matters/

This is an interesting article that states studies (including this one: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-635X2005000200001&lng=en&tlng=en) have found the size of the supplement is very important because shell formation tends to happen overnight, so the larger particle size will be digested/dissolved more slowly, providing the hen with a continuous source.

I think this is what I'd read in the past. It was enough to convince me that I should continue to offer eggshell and oyster shell in assorted sizes free choice and just let the chickens pick whatever they need whenever they need it. I also leave the membrane on the eggshells, I do not wash them, I like to think it's of some nutritional value to them even if the shells and membranes don't actually aid in egg production.

 

[MTchicknman]

@ Alllen K - I like your c&p about limestone. It wasn't a farm store flunky I called, it was the limestone company (in Minn.?) and talked to what I'm now guessing was a secretary, rather than a person who might have known more about limestone (as you pointed out in your Google search!) Thx for the comeback!

 

[MTchicknman]

hehe your CaCO3 limestone isn't the high calcium variety of CaCO3? Gotta love sales slime.
SS to MGR: I got a customer on the line asking about calcium content for their chicken....
MGR: --flips a coin----tell them it is the low calcium sort...
SS--OK, TY

edit-- copy pasting top google result:
Commodity: Limestone, a sedimentary rock that is dominantly composed of the calcium-bearing carbonate minerals calcite and dolomite. Calcite is chemically calcium carbonate (formula CaCO3). Dolomite is chemically calcium-magnesium carbonate (formulaCaMg(CO3)2).

It never ceases to amaze me the tripe that is dished out by feed store employees on a daily basis. I've refused to purchase medicated starter. Have never used it, never intend to use it. Several years ago, when I asked for unmedicated chick starter, the SS would argue with me that if I did not buy medicated feed, all of my chicks would die. My reply: "If you don't have unmedicated starter, I'll just go buy it from your competitor. Good by." Amazingly, within the last 2 years the management of this very store that told me I would be killing my chicks actually started offering unmedicated chick starter. Evidently, they are now willing to aid and abet in the murder of countless innocent chicks.

I'm sure that you wouldn't be referencing the nice "sales person" who sold me a few RIRs that grew up to be a couple of buff Orps, a few midget comets, and nary an RIR! /sarc
In other words, I got hatchery choice of field-run brown-looking chicks! It turned out OK, tho, because those little comets lay as large brown eggs as the Orps, and my NN hen. The worst part of the Leghorns we bought is that they turned out to be White Rocks, which spend all their extra time pecking/pulling the feathers out from around the anus of the Buff Orps - which now makes the Orps the Baboons of the flock!

 

[MTchicknman]

I spent all day of a few days ago shoveling out 2 feet of snow so that the hens have room to run around in their pen and the roosters in theirs. So then the day before yesterday, it dumps another foot of snow (with high winds) on us, so guess what I did today!! At least the chickens appreciated the clear ground ;>). Now tomorrow, I get to start on the parking spots - every time I clear them the State snow plow comes and covers them up again, so until the snow melts away or they just move it farther down in the street, I just give them back the snow they gave me, right back into the street. I didn't want their snow in the first place, I have enough of my own, but they don't care!