Someone recently asked us why we add calcium to our chicken feeds. We’re glad you asked! First off, some background. Calcium, also known as aragonite, is added to our livestock feeds. Aragonite is essential to a hen’s diet, whether that is a laying hen or a duck. Calcium is also essential to their bone health but mainly used in producing an egg with a shell. If you’ve ever had a shell-less egg, a thin shell, or even a see through shell, it could be that your hen hadn’t consumed enough calicum in their diet. With any consumption too much of something can be a bad thing. As a result, our pullet feed – pullets are chickens that aren’t laying yet – is calcium free. Hens don’t need the calcium prior to laying eggs, because it can cause build up and lead to problems with joints and kidneys. And we don’t want your girls going through that! So – we add calcium, because your hens need it! If you’re not feeding with our Reedy Fork Farm Organic Feed for your poultry, it could be that your girls need more calcium. If so, aragonite is available at our farm in 50lb bags for $19. You can also use oyster shells for calcium. We have that for $20.50 per 50lb bag. Feed-Bag-Chickens Fun Fact: The aragonite that we use in our feed is from the Bahamas.

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