Feeding egg shells to laying hens?

[picklespickles]

i just crush them up and mix it in with the slop. occasionally, i will make them scrambled eggs with the shell in. lol. it's a gourmet day when that happens.

 

[ChickyGal]

Hi,
I just wash/rinse them off really good, on the inside of the shell, place them in a bowl to dry and they are ready and dry the next day. They crumble so easy this way, like glass shattering into a million pieces. My chickens love them.
Shirley

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi!
I boil all my extra eggs (my stockpot holds 13 dozen+) and feed them (shell and all) to the chickens.
I just smack a boiled egg against a post to crack it and toss it in the pen.
They go for the yolks, then the whites, and then the shells (I've been known to just crack raw eggs in a pan and give it to them, but did you ever try to wash dried egg yolk out of a Silkies crest?).

I save, bake, crush the shells from the eggs we eat and add them to the Button Quail feed.

Lisa

 

[schmoo]

I hardboil a dozen or two of my smaller eggs atleast once a week for my chickens. I just let them sit in cold water for a little while then drain and mash with a potato masher. They happily eat every bite.

 

[wegotchickens]

We rinse & dry ours and the next day they are ready to crumble and leave for the peeps. They won't eat oyster shell, and were eating paint chips from the swingset rather than oyster shell!

Now we get eggshells by the gallon jar. The lady who works in the cafeteria where DH works saves them for us. Those I rinse & bake, then feed to the girls. So they are getting more shells than they produce.

If they get plenty of shells, do they really need layer feed?

 

[buc]

Quote:
Ok, thanks to everyone on both sides of this issue and for the help on how to prepare the shells for feeding.

About an hour ago I took some air crushed shells (my son found doing the crushing was great fun, in part because when he touches the eggs on the way into the home he has to be so careful, i think this was a bit of revenge) to my girls this morning, as I was checking eggs I put them in their regular trough feeder, they just loved them.

 

[blue90292]

those are some quick somenella since i crack the eggs for breakfast, eat my breakfast and then throw the crushed shells to the chickens free ranging in my yard.

sorry, yes, somenella is not something to laugh at, but my eggshells go immediately to my flock instead of going into the trash can. thanks rooster-red for bringing that up since it is something people need to remember.

Quote:
If you leave the egg shells wet you are inviting somenella poisioning of your chickens.