Feeding Crushed Egg Shell

[GRB73]

I want to feed crushed egg shell to my chickens for a calcium boost. Do I need to bake the shells first? Or can I crush up fresh egg shells? What size should the pieces be?

Thanks

 

[Harmony Fowl]

The pieces should be small enough that the chickens have no idea what they’re eating and don’t connect the shells with the eggs they lay every day. To achieve this, I put shells in a ziplock bag and just crush them really good until I have all small pieces. The chickens will break up larger pieces anyway.

Fresh shells are fine but can be hard to crush. The shells can be surprisingly elastic. I do bake mine for 10 minutes but also just leaving them out overnight to dry out usually does the trick, too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some people bake them, some don't. Some crush them a lot more than others. You will get all kinds of different opinions on this. I don't bake mine and don't crush them that much either and haven't had problems, but do what ever you feel comfortable doing.

If your chickens are getting enough calcium from other sources they may ignore the crushed egg shells. Or they may gobble them down. Either reaction is normal. Don't be surprised if they don't consider the egg shells the treat you think they will.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I usually bake mine to dry them out a little bit - especially if I have a lot and am going to save some up. In winter, we burn wood, so I have an old cookie sheet I put on top of the wood stove to dry them.

I don't crush too finely, just crunch them a little, the girls will pick them apart if they are crisp.

 

[Motherhen25]

I set mine to dry over night, and crush them really fine, my hens are to lazy to break the pieces apart themselves.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I just let mine dry out, then crush them. My hens prefer egg shells to oyster shells, but I still offer both.

 

[Percheron chick]

Don't over think it.