Chickens eating eggshells...

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

My daughter went to get the eggs today and dropped one. She said the chickens ate the egg and the eggshells. I have read that it's bad to let them eat eggs because they might get into the habit of doing that, but will eating the shells hurt them?

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Well technically its not bad. its got calcium and protein. I feed mine hard boiled eggs and smashed up egg shells all the time with no problems

 

[Cuban Longtails]

The shells are an excellent source of calcium for them.

Some will save shells as they use up the eggs, then bake the shells in the oven (makes them easier to crush and kills any germs) to give back to their chickens.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I think it would be more problematic that they ate the egg yolk/white, not the shell. I have had ducks that will pick eggshells out of my compost pile, even though they were eating layer feed. Since then, I have actually made a habit of giving them the shells after using the eggs. They haven't picked up any bad habits of eating whole eggs.

Edited for grammar.