Different chickens need different nutrients in order to function at their best. What a meat chicken needs is slightly different from what an egg-laying chicken needs.

One important nutrient that egg-laying chickens need is oyster shell, but how much is too much oyster shell? Can chickens eat too much oyster shell? This article explores this topic 

Chickens generally don’t allow themselves to eat too much oyster shell. Chickens, instinctively know how much oyster shell they need. Laying chickens will take in more calcium as they eat more oyster shell, meat chickens will avoid oyster shell. If the egg-laying chicken has too much oyster shell, its eggs will have excess calcium deposits. 

Can chickens eat too much oyster shell?

Chickens need a variety of vitamins and minerals to maintain good overall health. A chicken’s health is directly related to how well it eats.

Egg-laying chickens need high levels of calcium to lay eggs with strong hard shells, their calcium needs are much higher than the calcium needs of meat chickens.

If they don’t get the calcium they need, then the bird will pull calcium from its own bones, this can put a strain on their bodies.

Chickens know when to stop:

Giving chickens oyster shell is an affordable and easy way to get your birds to get the calcium they need. Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about giving the bird too much oyster shell, they will only take as much as they need. 

Although egg-laying hens, overall, need extra calcium to form the best eggs they can, individual hens may have different needs, one bird, may need more or less oyster shell than another. In addition, a particular hen’s need for oyster shell may fluctuate over time.

The best way to accommodate each bird would be to serve oyster shells to your birds and let them eat as they see fit.

Animals, including chickens, will eat until they are satisfied. They have no concept of conservation, they will eat as much as they need at that present moment. 

If you serve oyster shells to chickens who don’t need it, the bird will simply not eat any of it. Their bodies know that they don’t need the added calcium and the birds are able to change their behavior accordingly.

If a bird is a meat chicken, and is not laying eggs, it will keep away from the oyster shell. If an egg-laying chicken takes in too much oyster shell, then its eggs will have high levels of calcium deposits on them. 

Effecs of too much oyster shell in chickens:

If a chicken’s natural instincts don’t kick in, when it has had enough oyster shell, then the bird can eat too much oyster shell.

If you are feeding oyster shell to chickens that do not need this added calcium, then added strain can be put on the bird’s kidneys.

The kidneys filter excess nutrients from the bird’s body, pulling excess calcium from the bird’s body becomes strenuous to the kidneys. 

Do chickens eat other calcium rich foods? 

Yes, chickens can eat other calcium-rich foods. Thankfully there are a variety of calcium-rich food options that you can give your bird: 

Table scraps:

Certain human foods naturally contain high levels of calcium, these foods can be fed to chickens.

Foods that contain good amounts of calcium include broccoli, spinach, kale, cooked beans, cabbage, shellfish, sardines, salmon, rhubarb, brussels sprouts, red clover, summer squash, dandelion greens, mustard greens, and swiss chard to name a few.  

Eggshells:

Eggshells contain very high amounts of calcium. Serving eggshells to birds is a great way to get this calcium back into your chicken’s body. Chickens will not realize that you’re feeding them eggshells as long as they are ground up

Note: Always serve chickens ground up eggshells that do not look like eggshells. Feeding them whole or particularly crushed eggshells will confuse them and cause them to start feeding on their own unhatched eggs.

Also, it is important to cook the eggshells before grinding and serving, if you don’t do this, bacterial infections from the eggs could be passed on to your birds.

High calcium feed:

Feeds can be fortified using calcium. Some feeds are specially designed with added calcium, these feeds are formulated to be fed to egg-laying chickens.

This solution can be implemented if you are feeding a flock of exclusively egg-laying chickens, other chickens don’t need to eat this added calcium.

Conclusion

In conclusion, chickens can eat too much oyster shell but this only happens if their natural instincts don’t kick in. Generally, chickens will only eat as much as they need, they are self-regulating.

If an egg-laying chicken eats more calcium than it needs then its eggshells will contain excess deposits of calcium. If a meat chicken eats more calcium than it needs, then the bird’s kidneys will become strained. 

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Can chickens eat onion peels?, Can chickens eat oats with hulls?, Can chickens eat parrot feed?, Can chickens eat duck starter?