If you have chickens, you eat eggs, you have a bunch of shells. What do you do with them? There are a few different ways to use your egg shells. Why not use every resource you can get from your girls?
Egg-Eating Chickens
I have a few girls that eat eggs. Naturally, people said "give them oyster shells". It wasn't so simple, though. My girls are picky eaters and the oyster shells turned out to be a waste of time and money (they wouldn't eat them). A friend suggested boiling the empty egg shells after we crack them to eat them. Then, microwave them till the insides are "cooked". Then, make sure all the "insides" are out of the shells. After cooking, they'll get a "bubble" in the shell. PULL this out! If you don't it just worsens the egg eating problem. After a while, we adapted the egg shells as a supplement to our own system.
1. Get your empty shells.
2. Put them on a paper plate or something microwavable.
3. Cook 'em! (There's no set amount of time, you'll have to adapt this. Don't burn them thogh!)
4. Make sure to get all the cooked "insides" out.
5. Put in a bag and crumble. Make sure each piece of shell is smaller than a sunflower seed!
6. Mix with your chickens' feed.
(Note: This system doesn't work for everyone. There are other ways that work for egg eating, but that's not what this article is about.
)
Perserving Shells
(Above Picture: a carton of various egg shells I "blew out".)
If you get a really big or really tiny egg, if you're like me, you want to keep it, right? Don't crack it if you are going to keep it. Instructions for "blowing out" an egg below:
1. Put a pin hole in eachend of the egg (CAREFULLY!). You'll have to slightly widen the holes, but be careful and don't widen the holes too much.
2. After you have a good sized hole (not huge, but fairly big. In my picture above, you can see some of the holes I put in the eggs), you'll want to scramble up the egg inside. Sometimes if you are lucky, you can get the yolk (or yolks) out with no problem, but they usually have to be broken up.
3. Now you have to blow on the egg. You can use a straw so that you don't put your mouth on the egg. The shorter the straw, the better.
4. After all the insides are out, you can rinse the shell out in the sink.
(Note: Warning, this process can take up to 4 hours, depending on the egg size. Sometimes the insides are salvagable, but other times they aren't.)
Egg Shell Art
I've never tried this, but it is, in my opinion, a very clever way to use old egg shells.
Usually, after Easter, you'll have a bunch of colored egg shell pieces. Why not put them to use? You don't have to color the shells before you break them. I'm sure if you broke them and glued them to a surface, you could paint or color them then just as easily. You do want to make sure that the shells are cooked or something though. See picture below for an example of "egg shell art". Get creative and go make some egg shell art!
(Note: Not my picture)
Egg Shell "Carvings"
I have absolutely no idea how people do this, but it looks amazing. I have a feeling that it'd be a little frustrating.
If you want to get even more creative with your egg shells, this is the way to go.
(Note: not my picture. Also, I will not be responsible for temper tantrums
)
Egg Candles
I never saw this till today, but it looks interesting. It seems that they are using the egg shells as candle molds or to hold the candle.
(Note: not my picture)
More Egg Shell Uses
Have an idea for more egg shell uses? Leave a comment! Don't be afraid to get out there and be creative with egg shells! Go forth and experiment!
Egg-Eating Chickens
I have a few girls that eat eggs. Naturally, people said "give them oyster shells". It wasn't so simple, though. My girls are picky eaters and the oyster shells turned out to be a waste of time and money (they wouldn't eat them). A friend suggested boiling the empty egg shells after we crack them to eat them. Then, microwave them till the insides are "cooked". Then, make sure all the "insides" are out of the shells. After cooking, they'll get a "bubble" in the shell. PULL this out! If you don't it just worsens the egg eating problem. After a while, we adapted the egg shells as a supplement to our own system.
1. Get your empty shells.
2. Put them on a paper plate or something microwavable.
3. Cook 'em! (There's no set amount of time, you'll have to adapt this. Don't burn them thogh!)
4. Make sure to get all the cooked "insides" out.
5. Put in a bag and crumble. Make sure each piece of shell is smaller than a sunflower seed!
6. Mix with your chickens' feed.
(Note: This system doesn't work for everyone. There are other ways that work for egg eating, but that's not what this article is about.
)Perserving Shells
(Above Picture: a carton of various egg shells I "blew out".)
If you get a really big or really tiny egg, if you're like me, you want to keep it, right? Don't crack it if you are going to keep it. Instructions for "blowing out" an egg below:
1. Put a pin hole in eachend of the egg (CAREFULLY!). You'll have to slightly widen the holes, but be careful and don't widen the holes too much.
2. After you have a good sized hole (not huge, but fairly big. In my picture above, you can see some of the holes I put in the eggs), you'll want to scramble up the egg inside. Sometimes if you are lucky, you can get the yolk (or yolks) out with no problem, but they usually have to be broken up.
3. Now you have to blow on the egg. You can use a straw so that you don't put your mouth on the egg. The shorter the straw, the better.
4. After all the insides are out, you can rinse the shell out in the sink.
(Note: Warning, this process can take up to 4 hours, depending on the egg size. Sometimes the insides are salvagable, but other times they aren't.)
Egg Shell Art
I've never tried this, but it is, in my opinion, a very clever way to use old egg shells.
Usually, after Easter, you'll have a bunch of colored egg shell pieces. Why not put them to use? You don't have to color the shells before you break them. I'm sure if you broke them and glued them to a surface, you could paint or color them then just as easily. You do want to make sure that the shells are cooked or something though. See picture below for an example of "egg shell art". Get creative and go make some egg shell art!
(Note: Not my picture)
Egg Shell "Carvings"
I have absolutely no idea how people do this, but it looks amazing. I have a feeling that it'd be a little frustrating.
If you want to get even more creative with your egg shells, this is the way to go.
(Note: not my picture. Also, I will not be responsible for temper tantrums
)Egg Candles
I never saw this till today, but it looks interesting. It seems that they are using the egg shells as candle molds or to hold the candle.
(Note: not my picture)
More Egg Shell Uses
Have an idea for more egg shell uses? Leave a comment! Don't be afraid to get out there and be creative with egg shells! Go forth and experiment!
