Why won’t my chickens eat oyster shells?

[bobbi-j]

i heard you have to bake the egg shells

I don’t, and have never had a problem.

 

[NatJ]

i heard you have to bake the egg shells

I've been serving un-baked eggshells to chickens for something like 20 years, with no problems.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I've been serving un-baked eggshells to chickens for something like 20 years, with no problems.

I also read you had to bake them, but if you don’t thats even easier! Do you rinse them at all or just throw them in post-crack?

 

[CluckerFamily]

I also crush up "some" egg shells for the chickens to use instead of oyster shells. The rest of the egg shells go in the compost bin.

 

[LizzzyJo]

If they free range or have layer feed (even if it’s not crazy high with calcium) they don’t need oyster shell and that’s why they ignore it. Unless you have a thin shell issue, they’re fine. They eat bugs and lots of good other stuff in their world. If they needed the oyster they’d eat it. People weren’t feeding chickens oyster shell a thousand years ago, no worries.

 

[NatJ]

Do you rinse them at all or just throw them in post-crack?

No rinsing.

I also crush up "some" egg shells for the chickens to use instead of oyster shells. The rest of the egg shells go in the compost bin.

I do not distinguish between "compost pile" and "chicken yard," so no sorting for me. The chickens eat what they want, stir up the rest with their scratching. It eventually turns into compost.

I prefer to keep a bowl on the kitchen counter, so I can drop in eggshells, vegetable peelings, the piece of scrambled egg that fell on the floor, and so forth. At least once a day, grab the bowl while going out to check the chickens, and dump it in their pen.

 

[Acre4Me]

The eat oyster shell if they need it, and even then it’s just a bit here and there. My flock eats all-flock, so they need the calcium. I put OS and grit into same metal pan in the run. After several weeks, it needs to be refreshed. Some pullets/hens eat the OS more than others.

Egg shells here go directly into compost. Others save shells to go into the tomato planting holes bc blossom end rot is a calcium deficiency.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Something to consider is not all oyster shell is created equal.
Mine adamantly refused the stuff that looks like drywall crumbs but go nutty for this stuff.

https://www.lindmarine.com/services-products/oyster-shell-calcium-for-poultry/

Also....young layers don't seem to need it right away when laying starts.

 

[AllyTCat]

Thank you for all the tips they were very useful