Oyster shell

[80slady]

I've put out crushed oyster shells in a separate bowl from their food, I never see them eating any.. any suggestions for how to give to my hens, Thank you all for your support

 

[KimbosKluckers]

I've put out crushed oyster shells in a separate bowl from their food, I never see them eating any.. any suggestions for how to give to my hens, Thank you all for your support

How old are they? I rarely see mine eat either but they do when they need it.

 

[80slady]

How old are they? I rarely see mine eat either but they do when they need it.

There almost 1 yr. I thought you were supposed to have them available.. if they don't need it, I'll just put it away

 

[HollowOfWisps]

There almost 1 yr. I thought you were supposed to have them available.. if they don't need it, I'll just put it away

Don’t put it away. They need to be able to access it as needed. Ducks won’t eat oyster shells every day, but when they feel they need the extra calcium it is crucial that they can access it. I have had ducks for years and very rarely see them eat the oyster shells, but they do because the bowl slowly goes down over time. You should only need to refill your oyster shells every few months that is how little they usually eat.

 

[KimbosKluckers]

There almost 1 yr. I thought you were supposed to have them available.. if they don't need it, I'll just put it away

Oh don’t put it away. They eat it as they need it, it may be very unnoticeable. At a year old I assume they’re laying and use it as they want. If you use a layer feed they may eat less than if they eat all flock (that’s what I feed)
Edit, just realized this is for ducks, I have chickens but I’d assume the same.

 

[80slady]

Don’t put it away. They need to be able to access it as needed. Ducks won’t eat oyster shells every day, but when they feel they need the extra calcium it is crucial that they can access it. I have had ducks for years and very rarely see them eat the oyster shells, but they do because the bowl slowly goes down over time. You should only need to refill your oyster shells every few months that is how little they usually eat.

Awesome, thank you so much for your kindness and words

 

[80slady]

Awesome, thank you so much for your kindness and words

They have nice bowl with access to their oyster shells thanks again

 

[TheRealKirsten]

I have an oyster shell story. I have three hens. One was laying a good egg every day. One laid for a few weeks and then stopped laying five months ago. The other hen laid infrequently and the shells were soft. A lot of times they were broken and if they weren't broken, the shells were so thin that the egg would dehydrate and the shell would cave in.

I wasn't giving them layer food because the baby didn't lay for long enough for me to switch to layer food. I free-fed them crushed oyster shell instead. I noticed before the thin shells started happening that their consumption of crushed oyster shells went down but I figured it was because they grew up and didn't need so much oyster shell. When the one hen started laying eggs with thin shells, I thought maybe there was something about the feeder the shells were in that she didn't like and tried putting crushed oyster shell in the run instead of in a feeder. It didn't help. I realized that the slowdown in oyster shell consumption might have coincided with me getting a new bag (same exact brand) of oyster shell, so I bought another kind of oyster shell that is flaked instead of crushed.

I also bought some grit. My chickens are in a tractor and they get moved all over the yard and I didn't think they need grit, but maybe the gravelly stuff in my yard is mostly sandstone and not suitable as grit.

Anyway, now they are all three laying a beautiful egg pretty much every day, even the baby, which I had given up on ever laying again. Nice timing, considering the price of eggs hahaha. They've also gotten sorta uppity, like they know the prices of eggs went up.

 

[Sondraa]

I raise ducks and never put out oyster shell. Chickens need it. It's not a typical thing to give ducks.