Do hens eat the shells after their chicks hatch?

[limabean]

 

[TeamChaos]

My broody hens were happy to eat the shells.. in a couple of instances I saw her push the shell out of the nest box and other chickens were happy to eat them too.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Mine don't.

 

[Judy]

Mine do. I guess they are individuals in this, too.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Maybe it depends on the hen, or on how long she's been clamped on the nest waiting for her chicks to hatch and how hungry she is. I've seen mine eating the membranes out from the inside, I figured it was God's plan to give her nourishment while she was stuck on the nest. Others may be hungry enough to eat the shells too.

 

[pontoosuc]

Have one hen that hatched out 10 chicks. She did not eat the shells.

 

[kudzu vine]

I save all my shells, put them in a low degree oven, like when I take something out I've been baking, to sterilize. Then I put in bag and go to town with my rolling pin. I sprinkle on their food. It sure makes a difference in the hardness of the shells.

 

[MotherHen785102]

We have a first-time hatch going on at the moment and our momma ate half of a shell (I'm assuming because it wasn't there when I checked on the hatching process lol)