Chickens & Oyster Shells

Updated on 11/2/13, Originally posted on 1/7/12

Weekly Bible Verse: Psalm 91:4 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.

Trust in the Lord and he will deliver you. This does not mean life will always be easy but the Lord will help you through it.

If you have chickens it is a great idea to feed them oyster shells. Feeding your hens crushed oyster shell will help make their egg’s shell harder. When a hen lays an egg in the nest box, with other eggs already present, one of the eggs may get crushed under the new hen laying. Harder eggs shells will not be as easily broken. You can mix the oyster shells in with your chickens’ regular feed, or place it in a small dish and offer it on the side. Feeding oyster shells to your birds will also provide minerals and other nutrients that are very beneficial to your chickens. You should be able to buy it from your local feed store.

Comments

Jennifer Garcia says:

January 12, 2012 at 10:14 am

We have a hen who for the past couple months has been eating her eggs right after they are laid!? I have read maybe she is lacking in nutrition and could possibly stop this bad habit if given oyster shells. I would love to know what are your thoughts on in this? <3 Thanks!
admin says:

January 12, 2012 at 12:45 pm

She could be lacking nutrition but once a hen starts to break eggs it can be very difficult to get them to stop. Often when a hen breaks eggs it is because she has developed a taste for them. You might consider removing her from you others hens or she will teach them to eat the eggs too! You can try using dummy or golf balls and place them in the nest box. The hen will obviously not be able to break these so she may stop. One last thing always remove her eggs as soon as possible. If you can figure out what time of day she normally lays and take the egg right away before she has the chance to eat it this will help a lot.
Jennifer Garcia says:

January 12, 2012 at 1:27 pm

Thank you. We have tried the golf balls and that didn’t work and we are always trying to catch her right after she lays the egg to get it before she eats it and she was caught in action…she laid the egg and instantly stood up looked under her and started pecking it. Bad bad chicken! I will go ahead and give the oyster shells a try, praying it helps. It is the last resort I guess cause I don’t know what to do with her…we have no separate area for her that is safe against predators…she will unfortunately not be wanted by anyone for anything other than being eaten…and I cant do that . Thanks again…please pray the oyster shells work .
admin says:

January 12, 2012 at 3:06 pm

You could build a small cage that is slanted slightly and make it so the eggs roll out. Just leave a slit all the way on the bottom in the front of the cage so the eggs will roll out as soon as they are laid.