Wondering about oyster shells

[haasle]

I agree with @mockingbird. The grit you buy is larger than sand. The grit is used in their gizzard to grind up the food since they don't have teeth. The grinding also wears away at the grit which eventually becomes sand like particles in the poop! The oyster shell is for calcium which is needed for the egg shell. The feed usually won't give them all the calcium they need once they go into egg production. In turn, their bodies will start breaking down their bones to get the calcium. If they free-range they may eat small rocks but I always keep grit and oyster shell in separate containers in the run for them to use at their discretion.

Your hens are 17 weeks! Your fun is about to begin. Best of luck, my friend.

 

[haasle]

Great, thank you so much for the info!