Whole oyster shells

[NCF]

Hello everyone. I have access to free whole oyster shells. Can I just serve them to my chickens this way? Or do I need to break them?

 

[R2elk]

Hello everyone. I have access to free whole oyster shells. Can I just serve them to my chickens this way? Or do I need to break them?

You need to break them up or crush them. @ozexpat talks about how he crushes whole oyster shells in his thread Getting the Flock Out of Here.

#9151

 

[Fishkeeper]

They need to be able to pick up and swallow little bits of grit, they definitely can't break the shells on their own. We'd have big problems if chickens could bust oystershells.

 

[Chickassan]

Yep, got to put them in a sack and beat them with a hammer before the birds can use them.

 

[NCF]

Thanks everyone!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The size of the crushed oyster shell should be from 1/4 inch to 3/8 of an inch. Some small variations both smaller and larger than this is OK.