Question to those that feed their chickens eggshells back to their chickens.

[damselfish]

We are very simple: put them in the daily compost collecting container, i.e. whatever plastic container I happen to grab that day. Next day, throw them on the compost heap where the chickens can get them. Done.

Never any egg eater problems (but they free range so I guess if they were penned all the time they might start connecting the eggshells in the pen with the eggshells in the nest?). I have no idea.

 

[BoltonChicken]

My Grandmother (and I am talking a long, long time ago) baked her eggshells in the oven before feeding them back. I am sure she got this bit of wisdom from her Grandmother. I don't quite understand the reasoning behind this, but if you want to follow the "old" methods, I can guarantee you that this is one old method.

 

[flowerchild59]

I toss mine into a small bucket, when it is full I crush them well and feed them back to them.
Why make such an easy thing so complicated????

 

[the4heathernsmom]

X2

 

[yomama]

I toss mine into a small bucket, when it is full I crush them well and feed them back to them.
Why make such an easy thing so complicated????

Not trying tomake anything complicated, just wanting to make sure that bacteria isn't getting a chance to grow before I feed them back to the girls. I've had so many problems with pets, just this week alone, I don't need any more issues added to my plate. I know that my chickens can eat some wild and crazy things out free ranging, but I don't want to purposely expose them to a illness causing bacteria, if I don't need to. We don't eat eggs everyday, so the eggshells can sit on the counter for up to a week. Definitely enough time for bacteria to grown, imo. I like the idea of using the oven, it will make the egg shells even easier to crunch up. Thanks!

 

[LisaCammie]

We rinse them, then let dry,then put in container until the wife decides to crush them up and take them to the chickens. I don't think any bacteria growth can be any worse than the bugs they dig up on their own.

x2. I put them in a dry frying pan and browned them a little one time. My girls gobbled them up and I had to refill the "shell cup" with oyster shell until I had more egg shells to add. I don't fry them anymore.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

We microwaved them, on high for two minutes to sterilize. Then store up in coffee can until enough to roll pin crush. We use to mix into layer feed then stopped and realized their shells were plenty hard on layer feed alone. The shells use to take a few hard whacks to get it to crack.

 

[hensandchickscolorado]

I keep my scrap container in the fridge. Just an oversized rubbermaid container. I throw in all scraps, including eggshells. Whenever I feel like giving the girls a treat, I take the container out, usually crushing up those shells on my way out the door.

Easy as can be, and no worries about bacteria.

 

[LaynaDon95]

Quote:
x3
If they will be sitting out longer than a day or so I'll rinse them or they grow nasty bacteria...

 

[1shotcleaner]

hi i have a large family so the scraps are many and the egg shells are abundant every day. my wife feeds the scrap bucket to them just as the contents hit it , but i like to run it all threw the food processor as the chickens consume it better. so as to your question i crush or chop but i don't wash or dry them out, and my wife feeds them hole"broken in two"