Egg Shells

[CricketYang]

I save mine up by the sink and then microwave them for three mins and crush them up with either the food processor or my huge mortar and pestal.

 

[Myles]

I know I could probably google and find out, but - Are they high in calcium? Can they choke on them?

It hardly seems worth dirtying the food processor.

 

[sgtmom52]

I pop them in the microwave for a few minutes which seems to make them easier to crush. I then crumble them up so they don't look like eggs which could encourage egg eating.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Yes, they are primarily calcium carbonate. Good calcium source seeing as to how they are made of... egg shells!

I take all of my dry shells and dump them into an old #10 can then crush them well with a potato masher or a wooden spoon. They don't have to be powdered, just crushed into little bits. It's easy and doesn't take long.

 

[so lucky]

If you decide to microwave them, be careful not to leave them in there too long. I did; they turned black and started smoking. The most horrible stench ever!! We've been working at getting the smell out of the microwave for a week now. Uggh! It was mainly where they were stacked together tightly that they burned.

 

[schellie69]

I let mine air dry then crush them up and put them in an old pan put them in the pen and let the girls eat what they need I don't buy oyster shell. This has worked well for me, and no egg eating issues. Strong egg shells so I think it works.

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

As I use eggs I just put the shells back into the carton. When the eggs are gone I put all the dry shells into a big mortar and grind them up. Of course, I don't have any chickens to feed them to yet, but I'm working on it!

 

[Gargoyle]

Do you crush the shells just so the chickens don't recognize them and start eating the fresh eggs, or is there another reason?
I've just been breaking them into smaller pieces, mostly 1/2 or 3/4" pieces, and they like those.

 

[matimeo]

In reality you don't need to bother with drying, crushing, etc. I just throw any shells into the chicken scrap bowl and throw it all out the next day. Never had any issues with egg eating. Save yourself the bother.

 

[jenesis536]

I don't even rinse mine off... I put them in a bowl, throw them in the microwave for a coulple of minutes, and then crumble them in my mini food processor and sprinkle their mixed up treats with them.