Feeding egg shells to hens?

[maizy'smom]

I always plant a couple with each tomato plant...the calcium helps prevent "blossom end rot."

 

[duckinnut]

Quote:

I know, If I saw what the chickens eat outside I don't think I'd eat another egg !! Hubby throws them the snakes he finds and they have a good time with that !! YUK !!! I like the rock and coffee can way of grinding them up !! I'll have to try that !!

Im hoping the toad eggs were ones I sold. The thought of it makes me queasy which is nuts considering how many animals that I have field dressed.The coffee jug I use is one of those 3lb ones with the handle and have 4 round rocks in it. Does a great job fairly quickly too.

 

[FrenchToast]

Quote:

I know, If I saw what the chickens eat outside I don't think I'd eat another egg !! Hubby throws them the snakes he finds and they have a good time with that !! YUK !!! I like the rock and coffee can way of grinding them up !! I'll have to try that !!

I hoping the toad eggs were ones I sold. The thought of it makes me queasy which is nuts considering how many animals that I have field dressed.The coffee jug I use is one of those 3lb ones with the handle and have 4 round rocks in it. Does a great job fairly quickly too.

I hear ya !!! It really can gross you out if you think to hard about it. My sister was here today and picked up some eggs. I asked her if she wanted duck eggs and she said no, not yet !!! I just laughed !! Takes a while to even get used to the idea of eating a home grown egg but once you do , well you know !!! YUM but the thought of an earth worm turning into a beautiful omlet is enough to make me gag !!!

Thanks again for the coffee can tip.

 

[FrenchToast]

maizy'smom :

I always plant a couple with each tomato plant...the calcium helps prevent "blossom end rot."

Good idea. Now that I think of it I remember reading about that. I'll have to send some out with the DH to plant !! Thanks for the remiinder !!

 

[2overeasy000]

Quote:
Good idea. Now that I think of it I remember reading about that. I'll have to send some out with the DH to plant !! Thanks for the remiinder !!

I agree. Also, they are great for hot pepper plants too. They keep slugs away to as they don't like to crawl over them.
For feeding them back to the chickens, I usually just make scrambled eggs from time to time(shell and all) and give that to them for a treat about once a week or whenever we have a surplus of eggs.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Just a short biology lesson. The inside of an egg is STERILE (germ free) otherwise the eggs would never hatch. The outside of the egg is protected by the bloom. Therefore any germs came from your hands. If you allow the egg shell to completely dry, before you crush them, it will not spoil, go rancid ect. The digestive system (not germ free) and the reproductive system (germ free) are completely separate. There is no way parts of a frog gets in to any egg. I grind mine up in a blender till its a coarse powder. The chickens think its a treat lol.

 

[duckinnut]

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Then explain to me why I sit perfectly still trying to catch flies with my tongue and hopped over 3 pieces of furniture trying to get a cricket? Just kidding!!!

But you got to admit its not hard to make the connecton between the two. They eat grain,corn,berries grass,weeds and veggies and not a thought about those ingredients made into an egg. Add a little toad or frog or snake it will raise an eyebrow or two. Nor would we eat sausage or hot dogs and alot of other food if we really thought about it.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm with Fred...I just keep my shells in a colander on the counter until it's full, put them in a Wallie World bag and crush, empty into their feed. No baking, no time consuming processing. Easy, peasy!

 

[ryan820]

I saved mine in a container and then used a small grinder to turn it to a mush (I added water to help ease the grinding).

Consequently, does anyone feed eggs back to chickens?

I have... my chickens are sneezing and making funny noises as if they have a respiratory thing going on and so they are on duramyacin-10 for a month now (well, hoping I don't have to have them on a full month). Anyway, my vet said to feed the eggs back to the birds as the antibiotics will show up in the egg's contents but will be altered... she didn't go into much detail except to say the antibiotics would be more effective on the infection and cause less stress on the birds all the while giving the nutrition of the egg and the calcium back to the hens. I'm not sure I get what she was saying but the chickens went APE over this shell-egg-chicken feed crumble mush-- they devoured it in minutes.

 

[Beekissed]

Feed eggs back to the chickens every time I find a cracked or too poopy egg...just toss it out in the yard and watch the dogs and chooks compete for the treasure.