Your thoughts on feeding egg to your chickens

[jaseyboy1986]

I need your views on this please. I've read that people sometimes feed any surplus eggs they get from their chickens TO their chickens. I know it's a great source of protein and the shell could be used like grit and I also understand that some people advice against this as they may get a taste for breaking their own eggs to eat but my question is;

"is it okay/legally/morally to feed eggs to your chickens?"

I have mentioned this topic to people at work, who insist it is wrong.

 

[iwiw60]

There is nothing wrong in feeding a hard-boiled egg to your chickens. And yes, it is a terrific boost of protein for them, not to mention they absolutely go beserk for it...mine sure do!

As for getting a taste for eating their own eggs, I would say no, not at all. At least mine don't.

 

[sandesnow]

I on occasion feed Eggs to our hens. Never raw. Either scrambled or hard-boiled. Always with the shell crushed in it. The calcium from the shell is great for them and their egg production, the extra protein is especially good during a molt. Also, a lot of the times if you have a hen that isn't wanting to eat or has produced a soft shelled egg, this usually helps.

So.. as to Wrong? Meh, I am all about helping the birds be as healthy as I can. If I know one of my hens needs extra calcium, this is the easiest way for me to get them that. Sometimes they just don't want to eat the oyster shell I offer them freely, so the easier on me, the better.


The only time I have ever had my hens open eggs was when it was a soft shell. So I would agree, no. Feeding cooked eggs back to hens wouldn't give them a taste for eggs as the egg composition has changed by being cooked.

 

[Eggcessive]

Egg is a great food for sick or injured chickens, as they will almost always eat them. I usually soft scramble eggs, and chop finely, but raw eggs are fine also if I mix with a small amount of buttermilk to add some probiotics to their diet. This mixture goes well into some stale bread crumbs or a little chick feed, and is usually devoured.

 

[jtn42248]

I need your views on this please. I've read that people sometimes feed any surplus eggs they get from their chickens TO their chickens. I know it's a great source of protein and the shell could be used like grit and I also understand that some people advice against this as they may get a taste for breaking their own eggs to eat but my question is;

"is it okay/legally/morally to feed eggs to your chickens?"

I have mentioned this topic to people at work, who insist it is wrong.

Feeding the occasional egg to your chickens is a perfect protein supplement. Never whole and never raw. Always either hard boiled or scrambled. As for the shell, save your shells when you eat the eggs. About once a week crush them...not to a powder but small pieces about the size of gravel...sprinkle some on their feed when you feed them. It is a great...and free...source of calcium.

 

[jaseyboy1986]

Thanks for your responses, this is good to know. I did feed some scrambled egg to mine and they LOVED it. It was gone in seconds. I like the idea of adding crushed shell to their feed for extra calcium. I will be saving my eggshells from now on then.

 

[11mini]

I just mash the whole boiled egg, shell and all. They loved it.

 

[cafarmgirl]

As for the folks at work who insist it's wrong to feed them eggs.... I have had silly people try to insist to me as well that feeding eggs to chickens is "morally wrong"! Hmmm, what sustains the developing chick and is absorbed by the chick after it hatches? Kind of like saying it's morally wrong for a calf to drink milk lol. That argument usually just comes from people who know nothing about chickens or animals in general.

I feed mashed hardboiled eggs to my birds, so far they've never developed a taste for eating their own eggs right out of the nest box, presumably because they have not yet perfected the art of boiling their eggs and mashing them themselves! Point is, they make no connection between those hardboiled eggs and what they leave in the nest box.

 

[iwiw60]

As for the folks at work who insist it's wrong to feed them eggs.... I have had silly people try to insist to me as well that feeding eggs to chickens is "morally wrong"! Hmmm, what sustains the developing chick and is absorbed by the chick after it hatches? Kind of like saying it's morally wrong for a calf to drink milk lol. That argument usually just comes from people who know nothing about chickens or animals in general.

I feed mashed hardboiled eggs to my birds, so far they've never developed a taste for eating their own eggs right out of the nest box, presumably because they have not yet perfected the art of boiling their eggs and mashing them themselves! Point is, they make no connection between those hardboiled eggs and what they leave in the nest box.

Bravo!!!

 

[evemfoster]

As for the folks at work who insist it's wrong to feed them eggs.... I have had silly people try to insist to me as well that feeding eggs to chickens is "morally wrong"! Hmmm, what sustains the developing chick and is absorbed by the chick after it hatches? Kind of like saying it's morally wrong for a calf to drink milk lol. That argument usually just comes from people who know nothing about chickens or animals in general.

I feed mashed hardboiled eggs to my birds, so far they've never developed a taste for eating their own eggs right out of the nest box, presumably because they have not yet perfected the art of boiling their eggs and mashing them themselves! Point is, they make no connection between those hardboiled eggs and what they leave in the nest box.

The folks who think feeding eggs to chickens is "Morally Wrong" would have a heart attack if they knew you can feed chicken to chickens. They get the bones and skin at my house and the chickens love them.