Egg shell supplimenting???

[MommaBear]

I met a man who has kept poultry for decades. He saved all the shells from his chickens eggs crushed them, and then put them out instead of oyster shell, and said it would reduce the need for gravel as well. I was wondering if this would also worked for duck. It's not like it's hard to get gravel around here, I just like self sufficientcy and find it interesting being new to all this.

 

[pardygwyn]

Don't know about it reducing a need for gravel, but I've always fed leftover eggshells to both ducks and chickens. They don't seem interested until they start laying, so I assume it does the job for any bird. I don't even crush the shells, just toss them over the fence and watch the show.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I dry all eggs used fresh and crush them, add to the oyster shell for both Chickens and Ducks. I buy a bag of the gravel ( the red stuff) at Home Depoe and put it on the path by their tree that every one likes to hang out at. Only the chicks that are separated from the flock get chick grit.

They still need grit if they don't free range. They have eaten every bit of grit they could get out of the yard all ready.

 

[Denninmi]

I save all of my eggshells as well (unless it's just ONE shell for a quick breakfast sandwhich or something). I put them all on a microwave safe plate and put them in just as is with a little white still in them, membrane, and so forth on HIGH for 4 to 5 minutes. The eggwhite remnants and membrane will char just a little bit, and it does have sort of a funky odor while it cooks. When it's done, the eggshells are extra crispy and break easily by hand (but be sure to let them cool first, they're EXTREMELY HOT when they first come out of the microwave).

I crunch them up by hand enough to put them into my small food processor, then I grind them into a near powder. This I put back onto the chicken feed.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, and Calcium Carbonate to Calcium Carbonate -- it's all good and does the job for the girls.

No reason not to give them back to your ducks as well as to your chickens.


Finally, another good use for the powdered eggshells-- a couple of tablespoons mixed into the soil at the base of a tomato or pepper plant will help a lot to prevent blossom end rot of the fruit if you also keep the soil moist (BER is a syndrome caused either by inadequate soil calcium, dry conditions not allowing the plant to take up soil calcium, or a combination of the two factors).

 

[headred]

I give my shells right back to the ducks after using. I just throw them out and they go CRAZY!! It is a fun show!