Crushed egg shells for calcium supplement?

[lukus]

I've been lurking for a few months now, got a lot of great info. I have 4 hens and a rooster, the hens are finally starting to lay (wife calls them the most expensive eggs ever). My question is about calcium supplements.

Most people use ground oyster shells as a separate choice for their hens. I've never seen anyone suggest or use crushed egg shells for this. Is there a reason to NOT use crushed egg shells for calcium supplements? It seems pretty easy, just let the shells dry and crush them in a bag or blender. Recycling at it's simplest.

thanks all,
lukus

 

[Buugette]

I use crushed egg shells... I just make sure they do not look like eggs... I don't want them to take a liking to their own eggs.

D

 

[marcym]

I bake for a living and go through about 35 dozen eggs a week. (Enough that I have to purchase store eggs to bake, but I get $3.50 a dozen for my fresh eggs at market. I am smart enough to do the math on that one!) Anyway, I put the shells in a large baggie, crush them, and let them dry out for a day or two. The chickens love them, and I don't have the extra expense of oyster shells for added calcium.

 

[jomercer]

I'd be more comfortable if the shells were cooked (either before or after shelling) to kill any pathogens from those yukky laying operations.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
You aren't feeding back any pathogens they don't already have and, presumably, already have antibodies for. Why make more work for yourself?

 

[miss_thenorth]

I started out baking the egg shells and crushing them before tossing them out. Fast forward three years, and I crack the egg, then toss out the shell "as is" to the chickens. I have not had one egg eater out of all the chickens I have had.

 

[Muggsmagee]

Definitely give the shells back to the chickens for calcium! There are lots of people that do it. I've seen it posted many times. What I haven't seen though, is how people prepare them. Interesting to see how they are given to the chickens...I do crush mine into something unrecognizeable, because one of my layers IS an egg eater!

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

I have a margarine carton that we put eggshells in so they can dry...when full I put in a baggie and crush...feed to the chickens in a tuna can screwed to a post in the run. Problem is they can eat them faster than I'm getting eggs!

Good luck with your flock!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I just toss them out the back door and in a couple of minutes they are gone.

I think all the drying and cooking and crushing is wasted effort, because the chickens don't care either way.

 

[GoldenCometLady]

I feed egg shells back to the chickens for extra calcium.
I just collect them in an old coffee can on the counter by the stove
then use a potato masher to crush them.
I also made a shell feeder from a plastic coffee can tacked to the wall
I made a hole just big enough for their head to fit into so there is
no wasting of the shell.