kronkie Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Hi, One of my girls is laying soft shell eggs and I am trying to get some oyster shell into them. Since I have had them ( about 18 months) I have fed them layer pellets but putting the shell in with that is no good as it settles to the bottom of the feeder and they dont eat it so I have come to the conclusion that mixing the shell with the mash is going to do the trick.My problem is does the mash have to be mixed with anything? The shop I got the mash from said that it does not need anything (ie, milk,water, etc)to be mixedwith it but the name itself,"mash", leads me to believe that it does. Any suggestions will be of help. Regards kronkie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I don't used mash myself but I understand that it is fine to "serve" it as it is . I put grit and oystershell into a small coop cup so it's easier to see when they've used it all up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Mash is a complete food, same as pellets. In fact, pellets is made of mash pressed together into, er, pellets! It should be served dry (mine have it available all the time) although some people do mix it up with water to make a porridge, but it quickly sours when wet. I mix other dry powders into my hens' mash (limestone flour, garlic, bokashi) but serve grit in a separate pot for them to help themselves to. Limestone flour is a more direct way of getting extra calcium into the hens and can be bought from horsey shops Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Same here. I add Limestone Flour (bought from the horse supplies shop) to their dry feed if I need to give them extra calcium for softies. I have a separate pot of grit which I top up as and when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-F-C Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Same here. I add Limestone Flour (bought from the horse supplies shop) to their dry feed if I need to give them extra calcium for softies. I have a separate pot of grit which I top up as and when needed. I just bought some from ebay... £4.25 for a 950g bag (inc postage) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Marple Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I am similar in that I either mix it with their food or if I am obviously noticing that they might be short on calcium- softies or limping then I mix it into porridge made with water which they absolutely wolf down. That way I know for sure that at least they have eaten some. I am now using the porridge method for worming too as I realised that with 10 chickens the grape method is a non-starter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
