How to get your hens to eat oyster shells

[Ascholten]

I mix my oyster shell in with their food pellets. Sometimes Ill wet the whole thing so it's a soft cake, they seem to eat it pretty well. Also leaving some in a bowl or sprinkling it around their food dish helps too so they can pick at it when they want more.

Soft eggs, other egg issues just happen from time to time no matter how well you take care of them, it's part of the whole plan with them. As long as it's not happening often Id not worry too much about an occasional eggcident in the laying box.

Aaron

 

[NevadaEmma]

What type of oyster shell are you offering them? I recently bought a new bag which was filled pea size oyster shell, supposedly. I had been giving them small oyster flakes that we had purchased years ago. They readily used the oyster flakes, even the newer chickens.

I mix it 50 - 50 with Omega 3 Eggmaker Laying Hen supplement. They like the Omega 3 (even the roosters) with the oyster flakes, but only eat the Omega 3 with the oyster round pieces.

I also hardboil eggs for the chickens then chop the eggs up whole, shell and all for additional calcium. A side note, I give all my young birds the yolk of the hard boiled egg which helps their digestion and usually helps any pasty butt problems.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Ahhh, oyster shells....i noticed a very soft shell at about 1 yr old. This was this past May. My alarm bells starting going. I have 5 GLW hens and feed layer feed with a side of manna pro oyster shells. I had noticed they wernt touching the oyster shell. I wondered why? Upon further investigation, i learned that not all 'oyster shells' are actually real oysters. I didnt research further, because, i had a feeling those perfectly white pebbles were just too white, and too perfect looking to be real oyster shells. My wheels starting turning and before i knew it, i was at Long Island, NY on a random beach collecting real oyster shells. I brought them home excited to crush them and offer them. I dont know if you have ever tried crushing oyster shells, but lets just say, i have never felt more connected to my caveman ancestors. Before crushing, i rinsed them thoroughly and let them sit in the sun for about a week. Crushing oyster shells is very interesting. They crush like nothing I have ever experienced. I thought i would easy breezy, crush to the size I want, perfect. Not so much tho. Anyway, i smashed that rock down 100 times on my dinner size plate of oysters. I was left with ideal pieces and lots of dust. Its very difficult to get the right size, but with only 5 hens, that dinner size plate of oyster shells left me with a nice, big, handful. I put it into my dispenser and was happy. Those girls devoured those shells . Eggs for the next 2 weeks had the hardest shells I had ever experienced. Awesome. Moving forward, they started eating less of them. Which was fine because eggs were good, and previously, i think they were consuming wayyy too much. Especially compared to the manna pro 'oyster' shells that sat for ages seemingly untouched. Upon reflection, i realized those first oyster shells had tiny tidbits of oyster still attached as well as some salt residue still there. Oh they loved that. Moving forward to current, i have the oyster shells in a dispenser with crushed egg shells as well. The oysters have lost their appeal to the degree as before when tidbits were attached, but i have not had an egg issue since that one time. I will be back at the beach early summer to collect more oyster shells! Good luck everyone. I hope your flock thrives ~ I love ya all

 

[NevadaEmma]

I also suspect that the bag of "oyster shells" are not really oyster shells, it is Mana Pro. I have not had good luck buying Mana Pro products. They also do not seem to answer any queries about their products, so I try to stay away from that brand.
I do not live, unfortunately, near the ocean to collect my own shells. I am trying to hunt down the brand that I had previously, but may need to buy another brand of the oyster flakes.

 

[aart]

Upon further investigation, i learned that not all 'oyster shells' are actually real oysters.

I also suspect that the bag of "oyster shells" are not really oyster shells, it is Mana Pro.

Well, then...... what, pry tell, are they?
I've fed Purina Flock Raiser with Manna Pro Oyster Shell on the side for 9 year now.
Healthy birds producing eggs with good hard shells, for the most part.

 

[NatJ]

Well, then...... what, pry tell, are they?
I've fed Purina Flock Raiser with Manna Pro Oyster Shell on the side for 9 year now.
Healthy birds producing eggs with good hard shells, for the most part.

A quote from Manna Pro's own website:
Ingredients: Oyster Shell, Coral Calcium
https://www.mannapro.com/poultry/supplements-care/oyster-shell

So yes, it is a source of calcium that chickens can use. But no, it is not all from the shells of actual oysters.

 

[3KillerBs]

Well, then...... what, pry tell, are they?

The 50# bag I got from the feed store is labeled "calcium grit". It's grey, not white.

I personally don't care of it's oystershell, clam shell, or crushed limestone. Calcium is calcium. They eat at when they need to and ignore it when they don't.

 

[janiedoe]

I switched to this stuff about 8 months ago.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have payed this much for oyster shell. I couldn't find any oyster shell, in nearby feed stores.
I ordered this through Prime, but Chewy also has it.
My hens and pullets go through it three times as fast, as they did the cheaper brands. (Maybe they like the thin flakes better? Idk.)
Our egg shells look great too. Nice thick, and no calcium deposits. I buy it in the 10lb bags now.

 

[aart]

A quot from Manna Pro's own website:
Ingredients: Oyster Shell, Coral Calcium
https://www.mannapro.com/poultry/supplements-care/oyster-shell

So yes, it is a source of calcium that chickens can use. But no, it is not all from the shells of actual oysters.

Thanks @NatJ .
I imagine that coral is very similar to oyster shell.
<shrugs>
Whatever it is, it sure seems to work well.

 

[YourChickHasAPastyButt]

If you think you are giving them too many treats, I would certainly slow down with those.

But my hens really do not like oyster shells so I feel your pain. I've had a chick-sized feeder I filled with oyster shells in the spring and it's still not gone. They do seem to eat it, but rarely. Because of this, I save all their egg shells I use in cooking and feed them back to the chickens. I rinse them after cracking them and let them dry on the edge of the sink. Once I have a good amount, I put them on a tray and bake them at 350 for 12 minutes. Once they cool they are very brittle and I just crush them and roll over them with a rolling pin until it is very tiny pieces. My hens love these and I see them eating them all the time. This is just as effective as feeding oyster shells, and it's more cost-effective since your hens are already making the eggshells.

I hope this helps!

We're going to try this next. Our egg shells for the most part are strong except for the ones from our RIR's. Sometimes they can break just carrying them once in a while and they all eat very little of the Manna Pro oyster shell (and coral) we put out for them. As soon as we collect enough shells we're going to try what you suggest.