been collecting egg shells to cook and feed back to chickens

[kwhit]

Question I have is at what oven temp do I cook the shells and for how long?
Do I crush them before they bake or after?

Thanks !!

 

[Den in Penn]

You don't have to cook them. You really don't have to crush then either. If you are going to store them for a while cooking will slow any microbe build up, but if you are feeding them straight away that isn't a problem. If you are baking them to store, 350 degrees and the time will vary based on the amount. That will dry them and will make them easy to crush. Crushing them might keep them from getting the idea that egg shells and thus eggs are something to eat. A lot of us if just break them a little and give them fairly large pieces that no longer looks like an egg, letting them do the work of breaking them into smaller bite size pieces.