CAN YOU FEED CHICKENS EGG SHELLS????

[chad-o]

You can dry or cook or just crush your egg shells and feed your chickens. You only have a problem if they associate the shell with their eggs. The way they do that is by the shape of the egg. If they are crushed there should be no problem with them eating their eggs.

 

[zmaryellen]

I want to be clear about this... I can save and wash my chicken's egg shells, crush them, and then feed them back to the chickens?????? This will provide the calcium they need? Weird........

 

[CoopRanger]

Yes, I've been doing it for years without any issues (weak shells, egg eating, etc). If it comes out of them, it's gotta go in 'em, right? If they are still deficient, you can give them oyster shells too.

 

[Pod95]

http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2012/02/crushing-eggshells.html

This website is really helpful, but if you don't feel like reading it all, I'll summarise.

You should avoid mixing the shell in with the feed in case you have roosters, or hens that no longer lay / haven't started laying, as too much calcium can actually be bad for them. Just but it in a bowl next to the feed and they will eat as much or as little as they need.

Try not to crush it up too small. An eggshell powder will just pass straight through them without them being able to absorb much calcium.

You can leave the bowl out all the time, and they will just take the eggshell as they need it.

 

[Circle-M-Farm]

The size of the egg shell pieces doesn't really matter, it is the particle size that matters.
Egg shells much like limestone has a small calcium particle size and both pass though a chickens digestive track fast, to fast to fully absorb the amount of calcium they need to produce quality egg shells.

Here's a quote from a study that was done on limestone which has a small calcium particle size like egg shells.

Quote:

Calcium Supplement Particle Size

In the mid 1960's, the late Professor Milton Scott and colleagues at Cornell University discovered that providing calcium in the form of oyster shells resulted in higher digestibility and retention than the same amount of calcium carbonate fed as ground limestone. The reason for this was that the larger particles of oyster shell remained in the gizzard (the first compartment of the digestive tract) and were slowly dissolved over a prolonged period. In contrast, the smaller particles of ground limestone moved quickly through the digestive tract and were only partially dissolved.
The use of oyster shell resulted in improved calcium retention, and better shell quality as measured by egg specific gravity, and several other criteria such as shell thickness, percent shell, etc. This research was quickly applied in the field, and most breeders' management guides began to recommend various combinations of limestone and oyster shells to achieve optimum shell quality. Since oyster shell is usually much more expensive than limestone, its use is often limited.

 

[Tika75]

I've given mine egg shell. I just let it dry and crush it a little so they don't have huge pieces to fight over. Egg shell is one thing but giving them cooked egg or chicken is a little weird to me. LOL

 

[cdimmey]

For those of you who microwave the shells, how long do you usually microwave them?

 

[cdimmey]

And how soon can I introduce shells or oyster shells?

 

[mimsy]

And how soon can I introduce shells or oyster shells?I

I introduce a few weeks before I expect them to lay. They normally won't eat it unless they are craving calcium. The younger hens I introduce to the flock will have it available to them as soon as they are with the flock.

 

[cdimmey]

I introduce a few weeks before I expect them to lay.   They normally won't eat it unless they are  craving calcium.   The younger hens I introduce to the flock will have it available to them as soon as they are with the flock.  

What age might that be? I got them March 22nd, they only had the tips of their wings feathered so I'm assuming they were probably less than a week old, they are fully feathered and on grower feed now.