08/28/2025
I had a problem with soft or weak egg shells and I’ve found a solution that works well for me, so I thought I’d share My birds are totally free range and they have a large rubber tub with oyster shells as well as a large rubber tub with fine oyster shells and coarse sand mix. They very much prefer the mixture, but they eat both plus whatever they find as they roam. I recycle my egg shells for them. I feed layer pellets that have oyster shells in them, but still had roughly one egg per dozen with the shell too fragile to handle. The solution I found was to boil the oyster shells, then add some of that solution to their fresh water. I add about one quart of oyster water to 5 gallon waterer. My egg shells are improved to the point that I have only one egg per 4-5 dozen that is too fragile to handle. The oyster shells seem to be good for 2 boilings. I use a cat litter bucket (it has a lid) and dump the water into it. Then boil the shells again, and dump water and shells into the bucket. Then fill bucket with water and it’s ready to add to their water.
