Obsessed with snails

Date sort Score sort
clickchicks

clickchicks

Songster
Jun 6, 2020
296
359
166
Texas
So, we have tons of the little spiral shell (decollate) snails in our yard. I'm not bothered by them, but I find their shells here and there and after the really bad winter storms we just had here in Texas, there are lots of dead/dry shells all over the place.

My 3 hens, 1 in particular, is just ravenous for them. The one that's really obsessed with them followed me out of her yard gate yesterday and started frantically digging for the little snail shells. I let her stay out for few minutes to observe and she must have found and ate about a dozen of them before I put her back in the run. Didn't even touch the grass or other greens.

After that I went around collecting shells today, smashed them up a bit and put them in little bowl. Hens went absolutely feral, pecking each other and fighting to get as much as they could.

They eat a starter/grower pellet for the extra protein but I leave a bowl of crushed oyster shell out for them free-choice. I've never seen them eat it, but its always available to them.

Are they hurting for calcium or do they just really, really like snails?
 
Chickens don't really like oyster shell, even though a lot of people use that as a calcium supplement. They'll eat it out of necessity if they need calcium, but they don't seem to enjoy it. They prefer eggshells, snails and other forms of calcium that I guess are more natural for them (where would a chicken naturally encounter an oyster and know what to do with it?) Chickens also LOVE eating live snails that still have the meat in them. So maybe seeing the shells is a trigger and they think it's a whole snail, meat and all, and can't help themselves, even if it's just an empty shell. If you have shells to get rid of, and the chickens love them, then keep giving them the shells.
 
clickchicks said:
So, we have tons of the little spiral shell (decollate) snails in our yard. I'm not bothered by them, but I find their shells here and there and after the really bad winter storms we just had here in Texas, there are lots of dead/dry shells all over the place.

My 3 hens, 1 in particular, is just ravenous for them. The one that's really obsessed with them followed me out of her yard gate yesterday and started frantically digging for the little snail shells. I let her stay out for few minutes to observe and she must have found and ate about a dozen of them before I put her back in the run. Didn't even touch the grass or other greens.

After that I went around collecting shells today, smashed them up a bit and put them in little bowl. Hens went absolutely feral, pecking each other and fighting to get as much as they could.

They eat a starter/grower pellet for the extra protein but I leave a bowl of crushed oyster shell out for them free-choice. I've never seen them eat it, but its always available to them.

Are they hurting for calcium or do they just really, really like snails?
Click to expand...
What age are your birds?
 
I would never feed snails or slugs to my birds. They can carry some nasty stuff around.

There are tons of threads here where people feed non layer type feed to their hens and offer some type of oyster shell on the side...but the hens end up with laying issues most likely from not getting enough calcium.

if your birds are near laying age there's no reason why you shouldn't feed them a layer type feed that doesn't give them the option to pick and choose if they want to eat calcium or not.
 
K0k0shka said:
Chickens don't really like oyster shell, even though a lot of people use that as a calcium supplement. They'll eat it out of necessity if they need calcium, but they don't seem to enjoy it. They prefer eggshells, snails and other forms of calcium that I guess are more natural for them (where would a chicken naturally encounter an oyster and know what to do with it?) Chickens also LOVE eating live snails that still have the meat in them. So maybe seeing the shells is a trigger and they think it's a whole snail, meat and all, and can't help themselves, even if it's just an empty shell. If you have shells to get rid of, and the chickens love them, then keep giving them the shells.
Click to expand...
That’s a good point I hadn’t thought of. I guess it makes sense that if they enjoy them live, seeing so many of the dead shells afterward the bug freeze here just makes for easy pickings!
 
Kiki said:
I would never feed snails or slugs to my birds. They can carry some nasty stuff around.

There are tons of threads here where people feed non layer type feed to their hens and offer some type of oyster shell on the side...but the hens end up with laying issues most likely from not getting enough calcium.

if your birds are near laying age there's no reason why you shouldn't feed them a layer type feed that doesn't give them the option to pick and choose if they want to eat calcium or not.
Click to expand...
Even if I never offer them the shells again, it’s not like I can stop them from eating the snails. They are all over the place. It’s just a risk I’ll have to take I guess.

They are just under a year. Some people probably do have problems, but lots of people here also feed the higher protein starter + calcium without issue. I believe there is a benefit to the higher protein. So what’s the solution?

I image there is no one true answer, every flock has different needs. Can you recommend a good high protein layer food?
 
 
If you provide an unlimited supply of eggshell, or eggshell + oyster shell, along with the grower or all flock feed, your chickens are going to be just fine. Oyster shell alone... They are probably going to be fine, but being that chickens aren't crazy about it, I'm not entirely sure. They do love eggshell though, so if you can provide them with enough, then they'll be fine. The problem some people run into is when they only feed back the eggshells from their own chickens' eggs and don't have extras to add in. If they only get back what they produce, over time some of the calcium gets lost - used up by their bodies for other things, spilled on the ground and wasted, etc. so they are at a net deficit. But if you have other sources of eggshell, like if you occasionally buy eggs, or your neighbors give you their eggshells, or if you buy crushed eggshell, and the chickens have a constant unlimited source, then they'll be fine and you won't need layer feed.
 
@Kiki @K0k0shka

Thanks to you both for the info. I'm going to look through that list of feeds and see if there's anything I can get locally. I just wish more companies made smaller bags. I know that's not economical but I only have 3 chickens, a 50lb bag would last an eternity.

But in the meantime I can also try out the eggshells. I have plenty of friends and family who I'm sure wouldn't mind letting me recycle their's.

For the time being everyone seems ok. I get 1-3 eggs per day from my lot, and all the eggs have nice thick shells. I do want to make sure they are getting enough of what they need, though.
 

Similar threads

T
Breeding and Feeding Malaysian Trumpet Snails to Chickens and Ducks?
Replies
1
Views
427
Theorrin
Theorrin
H
Buckeye Trees and Chickens, Help
Replies
2
Views
188
Luv Ducks
L
A
    • Like
Does gapeworm in snails die when cooked?
2
Replies
13
Views
2K
Hainies Hen House
H
S
    • Like
Brand new to chickens
2
Replies
11
Views
1K
Folly's place
Folly's place
Krux5506
    • Like
Thoughts and Observations on Protein
3 4 5
Replies
44
Views
4K
Huntmaster
Huntmaster

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom