I don’t think the chickens like oyster shell. It’s supposed to be good for them, as it replaces the calcium in their bodies that they lose through laying eggs, but whenever we put it in their layers’ pellets they just kick it out of the feeder. Result: dusty (or muddy if it’s raining) pellets all over the run.
It’s annoying because this is the first time we’ve tried them on bought oyster shell. Up until now we’ve been baking our used egg shells and grinding them up in the blender, then pouring them back into their feed.
I think probably they’ve never noticed we’ve been doing that, so the sudden appearance of something new over the last two weeks might have spooked them.
I’m hoping they’ll get used to it and start eating it without too much fuss, so we’ll persevere as I really don’t want to have to go back to keeping used egg shells around the kitchen for days on end.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I used to rinse save BAKE & crunch up the old egg shells,
I suspect the anxiety home egg growers have about “keeping their flock free of the taste of egg so the chooks don’t eat their own eggs is unwarranted.
I NOW , rinse shells roughly , sit them in the SUN for days/ weeks / whatever, crunch up by hand & put the shell in with the chooks’ shellgrit container- separate to their food container.
It works !!
If they eat mostly pellets, they don’t need extra oyster shell, as they contain enough. In fact some say it upsets their balance of minerals. Mine do enjoy pecking at a cuttlefish bone hanging in their run, but I think if they don’t need it they won’t it eat. (unlike food they like, like porridge or spaghetti, which given the chance they would eat until they blow up!)
I use crumbled feed, and mix in powdered calcium and a bit of seaweed. My “girls” don’t seem to care for oyster shell, either. I mix it in with their grit in hopes they still get some into their system.
Our chickens are free range during the day and they have a large fenced in area that they go in at night and whenever we are not here because of work, etc.
We feed them begetable scraps in their area and we just lightly break up egg shells and toss in with their scraps. They eat the shells right along with the vegetable scraps. We don’t bother rinsing. They have them gone the same day we toss them in. So far no problems and it has been over a year of doing this. The eggs produced are great and have strong shells.