Happy Thursday friends! Let’s talk about calcium for your full grown chickens. I think it’s so funny when I get to talk chicken nutrition instead of human nutrition since that is what I do for a living! What I have noticed is a lot of things make perfect sense in both humans and animal nutrition. Like calcium! As humans, we need calcium for bone development. Same concept applies to chickens except they also need it to create strong eggs. Without enough calcium and protein, hens can develop soft eggs and become egg bound. If your hen gets egg bound she can decline in health quickly and even die. That is why it is critical to make sure your hens are getting enough calcium in their diet. So how do you do this? Today I am going to share a few easy ways you can add calcium to your hens diet.
How to Feed
When it comes to giving your chickens extra calcium, never add it to their daily feed. You will want to provide them a separate dish that contains the calcium supplement. Your chickens will consume the extra calcium as they need it. Fascinating, right?
When to Feed
When your chickens start laying eggs (around 16-18 weeks of age) you need to switch them from chick starter feed to a layer feed. This is VERY important! Some chicken owners start as early as 14 weeks which is still considered safe. Any younger than this can be dangerous as immature chickens cannot process the high protein and calcium layer feed. Just like the name reflects, layer feed is for laying chickens. I personally use organic layer feed that I purchase at my local feed store. Whatever brand you decide to go with just make sure it is appropriate for the age of your flock.
Egg Shells
This is my favorite way to add extra calcium to my chickens diet because it’s free and a good way to recycle your eggs. Some chicken owners aren’t fans of feeding chickens eggshells because they fear their chickens might start liking the taste and will start eating their own eggs in the nesting box. I disagree. I’ve never had this issue and the top chicken farmers I follow swear by this trick. But of course, this is up to you! If you are interested in feeding them eggshells, here is how you can do it-
- Keep your cracked eggshells and wash them out with water. You basically want them not to be “slimy” in the inside. I don’t use soap- just water.
- Set them out to dry in the sun or pop them in the oven for a few minutes.
- Once fully dry, use something like a small shovel or fork to crush them. Make sure you crush them very well!
- Store them in a dry container.
Oyster Grit
Just as the name suggests, oyster shell is simply the ground up shells of oysters. Oyster shell is high in calcium and is also referred to as soluble grit. I always keep a bag on hand just in case I don’t feel like cleaning up eggs to give to the chickens. My go to is Manna Pro Oyster Shells.
Lime
This is the only calcium supplement I’ve never actually used. I recently started using First Saturday Lime with my chickens for odor control and to keep nasty critters away. SO far I love it! I chose to use lime because it it safe to use in the coop and nesting boxes AND is also a great source of calcium. From what I have researched, you can put some in their water to help keep algae away and to add a little calcium to their diet. Again I have never tried this so I cannot personally recommend it BUT I know a lot of chicken owners do it.
I hope you find todays blog post helpful!
Xo,
Hi I was wondering if u ever have had a hen start crowing?? We have our largest hen almost 6 months old not laying quite yet.. and we did have a rooster with our flock but no longer do, and our hen is crowing but she did when he was here too.. crazy huh??
Hi Amy! I actually have had a hen that “crows”. It doesn’t sound exactly the same as a rooster but she is clearly trying! its not uncommon for an alpha hen to try to crow ANd to become aggressive. it just part of them trying to establish dominance.