![]() This means that it should NOT be mixed into their food or hidden in treats. Second, your flocks supplemental calcium source should always be offered as “free choice”. If you are curious, we feed our chickens this organic layer feed by Scratch and Peck. ![]() ![]() Thus, laying hens should always be fed a “layer” feed. Their food is formulated and adjusted accordingly. If you pay attention to their labels, you’ll see this reflected in the content of their various stages of feed: chick or “starter”, grower, and layer feeds. You could also begin to offer calcium when your girls start to exhibit the telltale signs that eggs are on the way.Īs they mature, chickens need slightly less protein and a bit more calcium. We generally put out eggshells after one of our young chickens begins to lay, even if the others that are the same age haven’t started yet. Introducing excess calcium prematurely can actually harm young chickens and cause kidney damage. Chickens should not be provided additional calcium until they’ve “come into lay” – that is, have begun to lay eggs, or are damn near ready to. Whether you’re providing supplemental calcium via eggshells, oyster shells, or both, there are a few important health considerations you need to know about!įirst things first. Even when we aren’t “short”, we add a little oyster shell with their eggshells on occasion, simply to keep them accustomed to eating them.įlaked oyster shells. Thankfully, we recently found a thinner, flakier, tastier oyster shell than those old “oyster rocks” that our girls disliked so much in the past – one that they will actually eat! Now, we mix these oyster shells with their eggshells to bolster our supply when needed. Egg-laying chickens cannot go more than a few days without that additional calcium source, so you will need to supplement! (Unless you ask your friends to keep the shells and return them to you, which we have totally done.) ![]() In that case, you probably will not have enough spare shells left to supply your flock enough calcium. Say you’re selling eggs, or regularly giving away dozens to friends. One such instance when having oyster shells on hand may be necessary is when you’re running short on eggshells. It sounds like a no-brainer, right? However, there is definitely a time and place where using oyster shells instead can come in handy. Here is the deal: Eggshells are free! Why not make good use of a “waste” product, and not need to spend any money doing so? They seem to be what many chickens prefer to eat anyway. To choose oyster shells or egg shells as a calcium supplement is a personal decision – but one that your chickens may help decide for you! On the other hand, they absolutely love to gobble down crushed eggshells! I have heard similar stories from many chicken-lady (or man) friends. Apparently, the large hard rocks of oyster shells for calcium were completely unappetizing to them. When we first starting raising chickens, we bought a bag of oyster shells for our girls. We like to mostly offer our girls eggshells – and that is what they happen to prefer as well! I’ll explain why as we go.Ĭrushed or flaked oyster shells are also available to buy, specifically for this purpose. Furthermore, chickens are known to eat their own eggs and shells out in nature too. It’s actually very common for chicken keepers to feed crushed eggshells back to their chickens. I can feed my chickens eggshells? Isn’t that like, cannibalism or something? No! It certainly is not. Should I offer chickens crushed eggshells or oyster shells? Let’s discuss those options, along with some best practices and things to avoid. Two popular choices are to feed chickens eggshells and/or oyster shells. There are a couple of ways you can provide calcium to your laying chickens to keep them as healthy as possible. Those scary scenarios deserve a post of their own (which I plan to write soon!) but for now, let’s focus on proactive prevention. Without a way to replenish the calcium used, serious and even life-threatening conditions may result! For example, if a hen is not provided adequate free-choice calcium in her diet, and thus cannot properly form eggshells, she may lay soft-shell eggs, become dangerously egg-bound, or even have an egg break inside of her. The biological process of forming and laying an egg slightly depletes the hen of her calcium reserves. Did you know that eggshells are made up of almost pure calcium? Yup, they sure are – nearly 100% calcium carbonate crystals! Oh, to be a laying hen and regularly produce eggs… It is a natural but somewhat tedious affair! Some chickens lay eggs daily, some once per week or less, and some in between.
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