they don't seem to be eating the oyster shells...

[wegotchickens]

Mine won't eat the oyster shell, even on the ground, and certainly not from the cup. Instead, my steady egg-layer was trying to eat paint chips from off the swingset! She LOVES egg shells. And we didn't have enough to keep her happy.

Now a lady that works in the cafteria at DH's job is saving us eggshells every Friday. She sends 2 gallon jugs of them home with him. I wash, crumble and bake them for the peeps. And now Daisy doesn't go for paint chips any more! And she eats the egg shells out of the oyster shell cup even though she wouldn't eat the oyster shell from the cup. Weird.

And DH is unhappy because the peeps prefer the pea stone arund the fire pit to the cheap chick grit you get from the seed store.
Think my peeps are spoiled????

Reese & KitKat are good, but a Milky Way Dark is to DIE for!!!!

 

[silkiechicken]

Mmm... paint chips. The leaded ones are the sweetest. Neurological damage is great. J/k I just herd that they were sweet and that's why kids liked to eat them.

Is it possible that your oyster shell is too big for your hen to comfortably eat?

I say the biological craving for goodies is the primitive drive to consume high calorie goods like sugars and fats, which our ancestors needed due to lack of fast food and easy meals.

 

[wegotchickens]

I windered why kids would eat paint. Mine just saw at a clean expanse that needed decorating...

Our paint is flat latex, no lead, circa 1997. The treated wood it's chipping off of is probably more harmful...

My oyster shell is finely ground, for parrots, and looks like gray crumbles. So I know it's not too big. I think it's because she always had white eggshells and so she assumes that's what she needs and not this gray dirt.

Or maybe she's confused because their dustbath area is filled with ashes and DE? Maybe that's what the oyster shell reminds her of?

Dunno. Just glad Fran will give more eggshells than I can possibly use on the peeps. Maybe now my tomotoes can have some too!