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.

Related posts:

1. Building up the chickens' calcium
2. What do chickens eat?
3. Chicken economics