egg shells

[Big dreams]

Does anyone grind up their egg shells and give them back to their chickens? We use to dry them, grind them and then just throw them into the run...

 

[tackyrama]

We were drying and then crushing the shells to give the hens. We gave it up and just provide ground oyster shells from the feed mill. It's cheap and far easier. We started having problems with one of the hens eating eggs but since we quit with the egg shells no more problem. Also the egg shells get to stinking if not used right away. Some people oven dry or bake the shells. I suppose this would give better results but the oyster shells still win out for ease of use. I put it in a small feeder I hang from the ceiling in the nesting corner. They eat it when they need it. In the summer my hens get all the calcium they need free ranging and in the winter they get egg mash so they hardly ever eat any oyster shells.