Bake the egg shells?

[LeastinID]

Instead of oyster shell, we've been providing our hens with egg shells.
My spouse read that you should bake the egg shells before feeding them to discourage egg eating.
Whatchoo think, Chickeneers?

 

[nuthatched]

I don't think it matters at all. I bake mine just so they're easier for me to break down.
Egg eating is often a sign of a lack of protein.

 

[Saveria]

It is also good to offer both oyster and egg shells since the shells will only have as much calcium as the hens have in their bodies.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Baking is more for 1) making them easier to crush and 2) killing off any bacteria on the surface.

 

[aldarita]

I bake my egg shells for 20 min at 250F that's enough to kill the bacteria lingering after cracking the egg. It is also a good idea to give them oyster shells too. I mix them and let them take their pick

 

[Apis mellifera]

Just leave the shells out in the sun to dry out.

 

[Kiki]

I wouldn't waste time baking them either.
If you aren't feeding a layer type feed I would recommend getting the oyster shell.
Bigger pieces of calcium are better.
Read this:
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ster_Shell_and_Limestone_In_vivo_and_In_vitro

"... The magnitude of difference at different times was greater for medium and large particles than for small particles. In the present study, the large particle size had a slower solubility rate (Table 3), which is in agreement with many other studies [7,15,17,44,47]. Also, this solubility pattern agrees with the works of Scott and Mullenhoff [48] and Scott et al. [49], who hypothesized that large particles of oyster shell accumulated in the gizzard during the day would dissolve slowly throughout the night, thereby, maintaining a higher blood calcium level compared with the time when hens received high calcium levels only during the daytime hours. ..."

 

[Kiki]

same link above:
... Roland [55], Keshavarz et al. [8], and Lesson and Summers [51] reported that oyster shell in coarse particles improved eggshell quality because of its lower solubility and slow release during night, when eggshell is formed. In in vivo studies, it was illustrated that sources with lower in vitro solubility or large particle size have increased retention times in the gizzard, which supports maintenance of eggshell quality [18,44,46]. This is especially critical during the dark period, when the hen relies on Ca for eggshell calcification and is not actively ingesting dietary Ca. ...

 

[The cheek coop]

Baking is more for 1) making them easier to crush and 2) killing off any bacteria on the surface.

This is the same reason we bake ours. I think if you were using store bought eggs, baking them would kill off whatever they use to treat the shells as well.

 

[Apis mellifera]

This is the same reason we bake ours. I think if you were using store bought eggs, baking them would kill off whatever they use to treat the shells as well.

If you have chickens why would you buy store bought eggs to bake shells and feed them to your flock? The suns UV rays has some disinfecting effects, but the idea is to dry the shells so the hens aren't eating egg whites and encouraging egg eating. Chickens pick at things far more bacteria covered during the day than a couple of egg shells.