How to Prepare Oyster Shells for Chickens: 9 Steps is a guide.
You probably have done a lot of research about the food, housing, and other requirements that your chickens need to stay healthy if you have laying hens.
Oyster shell is an important component of a laying hen's diet that should always be offered to your birds free choice.
Sometimes a commercial oyster shell may contain other types of shell, but usually it is just a plain old oyster.
Commercial feed is enough to support the needs of your chickens, according to many feed companies.
If you are raising laying hens, it is probably not something you want to find out on your own.
You will need to see how your birds respond to a feed that doesn't have enough calcium for them.
Why risk it?The oyster shell should be fed.The calcium carbonate in an egg must be pulled from your chickens.
Chickens that lay frequently need more oyster shell than chickens that only lay a few times per week.
Chickens will benefit from being fed oyster shell, but not all will need it.
hen puts twenty times the amount of calcium into her eggs that is found in her own bones in a single year
A hen is more sensitive to nutrition than most other animals.She needs a lot of calcium to make eggshells.
You can feed your laying hens high-calcium foods if you don't want to buy commercial oyster shell.
Feeding eggshells back to chickens is a great way to recycle old shells and give your girls a good source of calcium.
Feed full eggshells to your chickens, as this will confuse them into eating their own eggs, and this is a habit you definitely don't want them to get into.
If you cook your shells down before grinding them into a powder, you don't need to worry aboutbacteria in your chickens.
Chickens don't try to eat shells, so cooking them helps to make them less recognizable.
One caveat to keep in mind is that if your chickens diet is already low in calcium, they aren't as likely to have high quantities of calcium in their own eggs.
Feed your hens the eggshells of other birds in order to get her back into shape.
Egg shells don't have the same fast-release source of calcium as oyster shells, which is a problem if you want to feed egg shells to chickens.
If you want to get calcium from them, you need to be more consistent in feeding them.
If you have a mixed flock of chickens, it is recommended that you avoid feeding this kind of food.
When your hens are about eighteen weeks old or when the first egg is laid, these can be fed.
The type of calcium most commonly found in commercial laying feeds can be purchased on its own.
Dolomitic limestone contains larger amounts of magnesium and can interfere with calcium absorption, so be careful with the type of limestone you feed.
While feed stores sell bags of ground oyster shells for a relatively low price, you may decide that you want to make your own oyster shell supplement.
Unless you really love eating oysters, buying oysters just to make oyster shell feed is not worth it.).
If you have access to a large amount of free oyster shells, this is a great way to cut down on your feed bill.
You might be able to get out of this at no extra cost if they are willing to save them for you.
If you want to prepare the feed for your chickens, you need to bake the shells for 10 minutes.
It is possible to do this on a baking sheet.Baking the shells will kill off mold and make them easier to crack.
Put the shells in a bag after baking them.Smash the bag with a hammer and crush the shells with your car.
This won't take long at all.You can put the shells in your food processor to make a powderier supplement.There is only one thing to it.
The benefit of feeding scraps is that all of your chickens will benefit from them, not just the layers.
This won't provide your chickens with any more calcium and should not be seen as a stand-alone solution to calcium deficiency.
Giving your chickens more vitamins can improve their absorption of calcium more than if they were just eating it on their own.
They should add these supplements to their water every other day.
You don't have to worry about providing separate watering systems for roosters or young chickens because they will not hurt non-laying birds.
You might think that your hens can get by on the feed you buy at the local feed store if you are new to raising chickens.
If you have noticed any of the problems, your chickens might need more calcium.
Laying hens have free choice of access to the oyster shell if you leave out a bowl.
While you can sprinkle oyster shell into the feed, you risk chickens who don't need too much calcium.
Put the oyster shell in a bowl with your chickens feed.hen will figure out how much they need to eat
When it's empty, refill it.The average hen will eat 100 grams of feed with 4% total calcium per day.
Even if your hens stop laying, you should keep offering oyster shell.
It will strengthen their bones and allow them to lay more eggs later in the season.
She needs consistent access to calcium to make sure her body is ready to produce a hard shell.
Hens with low levels of calcium are more likely to suffer from broken bones in the legs and feet, as well as lay soft- or no-shelled eggs.
She needs two grams of calcium per day to make one eggshell.
hen's bodies break down into calcium and carbonate components when they eat oyster shell
They will be absorbed into the bloodstream and transmitted to the shell gland, with any leftover stored in the bones of the bird.
The medullary bones that Hens have help to make them stronger and more stable.
You don't need to worry about feeding oyster shell to chickens that are different from you.
If you are raising a mixed flock of birds, keep your oyster shell separate so that the birds who need it can access it.
The birds who don't need oyster shell will not be overfed.Too much calcium can hurt these chickens.
Do not feed your hens until they are at least 18 weeks old.hens who are laying eggs are the only ones who can use oyster shells.
If you mix calcium into hens food and they aren't ready for it, it can cause serious damage to the kidneys.
Many people think that oyster shell and grit are the same, and will produce similar effects in their backyard flocks of chickens.
Both are important to the health of your birds, but they are not the same.Your flock's output and wellbeing can be affected by serious health conditions if you don't have either.
Since chickens don't have teeth, they need a way to reduce the particle size of their food down to something that is smaller and more manageable.
When your chickens eat food, it goes to the gizzard.It stays there for a while, waiting for it to wear down so that it can pass through the chicken's stomach.
Your chicken's bicyle will absorb all the water and vitamins it needs before it is eliminated.
It is possible to turn food into something that is easier to digest by the chicken's body.
Chickens will have a hard time consuming food if they don't have access to grit.
The feed store sells girt.It is just flint or granite.It is inexpensive and does not expire.
The choice should be free.Many chickens will get all the food they need if they are free-ranging, but this depends on your soil type as well as how much open space you give them.
Oyster shell is often referred to as soluble grit, which is why people tend to confuse it with oyster shell.
It is stored to be used later in making eggshells to support the health of your birds.The oyster shell is in the gut.
It can help with digestion, but it is only meant to add calcium to the diet of your laying hens.
The bottom line?While you need to feed your chickens both oyster shell and grit, the two serve very distinct (yet vital) functions in their health and wellbeing.
Enough already, if you are thinking.We understand.You are correct that my chickens need more calcium.
Not only does a lack of calcium affect your chickens, it also affects you.
A strong eggshell is more likely to survive outside pressures than a weak one.
Lay a pan of oyster shell down the next time you are in the chicken house.Your hens will appreciate it.