Eggshells as calcium additive

[gadus]

Who is using eggshells for calcium inputs? Is there any empirical evidence that it is as good as oyster shell? I've been slacking in the calcium department but I've got sacks of cleaned and dried eggshells - put aside for garden use - ready to be put to use in the coop.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I use them for my flock. They work great. I can not use oyster shells.
I usally save them for my garden but add them to the chickens feed all the time.

 

[saysfaa]

I do.

Yes, both many people with backyard flocks simply observing that eggshells work at least as well as oyster shells. And many university-type studies showing the same.

I've never seen any reports or studies that showed an empirical reason not to use eggshells as far as health or egg production or quality of the eggs. Some people don't want to bother with them. Some people think they need processing (crushing and/or baking or such) for various reasons; others have had no problems over many years without processing other than breaking the shell so it is not a whole egg.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I do.

Yes, both many people with backyard flocks simply observing that eggshells work at least as well as oyster shells. And many university-type studies showing the same.

I've never seen any reports or studies that showed an empirical reason not to use eggshells as far as health or egg production or quality of the eggs. Some people don't want to bother with them. Some people think they need processing (crushing and/or baking or such) for various reasons; others have had no problems over many years without processing other than breaking the shell so it is not a whole egg.

I sometimes just crush them and throw them in

 

[TheWasp]

i bake my eggshells first, then crush, then mix into their daily foodstuffs

 

[townchicks]

I do both and leave it up to them.

 

[Sally PB]

I do both and leave it up to them.

Same here. For the longest time, I think they only ate the egg shells. Now I see them visiting the oyster shell feeder too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use both, mainly to stretch out my dollar as oyster shell isn't cheap (I buy 100% flaked shells, not the "pelleted" kind) and because some of my birds are less enthusiastic about oyster shell.

Eggshells taken strictly from your flock don't provide enough extra calcium in that there's no way to extract 100% of the calcium that went into them out of them. If you feed strictly layer feed just eggshell may be enough to meet your layers' needs due to the additional 4% calcium in the feed, but if you feed grower or all flock, you will probably need some oyster shell or other form of calcium as well to meet their needs.

 

[RoyalChick]

Egg shells are very popular with my gang.
I keep them in a metal bucket on the kitchen counter. Whenever I use the oven I pop the bucket in when I turn the oven off and that heats up the eggshells.
They crush more easily after heating. I pound them with the bottom of a wine bottle and then tip them into a container in the coop.

 

[Brooks_]

Eggshells taken strictly from your flock don't provide enough extra calcium

That's my main concern with eggshells,