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Otago Witness, Issue 3860, 6 March 1928, Page 16

Poultry keepers whose fowls deliver tender-shelled «eggs usually feed grit to their poultry in the belief that • this increases the amount of liine in the birds and thus tends to strengthen the shells; while others feed lime with scraps thrown to the birds.- Grit does not help the fowls to put more lime into the eggshells, according to Mr E. C. Jarrett, poultry instructor under the Department of Agriculture, when lecturing at Gisborne recently (states the Poverty Bay Herald). Tender shells usually mean that the fowl is running out of lime in the system, and if the trouble shows consistently among a number of birds it is generally an indication that they are receiving a surplus of proteins in their rations. It is impossible to add much lime to the fowls’ diet, but rest and a copious supply of greenstuffs will go far to repair the lack in the birds’ constitutions. Grit merely helps the fowl to grind its food in tho gizzard, and so promotes the health of the bird by enabling it to get the full benefit of its food.