feeding egg shells to the girls....

[ranchhand]

Haven't lost a hen in 18 years to sickness, I reckon I'm not going to worry about it now. My only losses have been to predators.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

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Wise words.

 

[woodmort]

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Good Lord, that is too much work. Since the shells came from them bacteria shouldn't be a problem, let 'em dry, crush them up to the point where they not longer look like eggs and toss them into the coop. The chickens will find them.

 

[woodmort]

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I'm with you<knock on wood> with the exception that I have lost a hen or two over the years to physical problems like egg binding and old age. If anything I'm just very careful about where my new chickens come from and only bring in day olds and hatching eggs.

 

[lizzy06019]

I save up egg shells throughout the week and put them in a container in the fridge till I have enough to make the process worth while. (usually once a week) At which point I put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. Let them cool off and grind them in the food processor. I supliment with oyster shell too but just add their shells to it every now and then. It takes no time or effort. I usually do it while I'm in the kitchen cooking for my kids or washing dishes. And I feel good about it because I'm not throwing something away that the girls can use to make more beautiful eggs with. They seem to REALLY like it too.

 

[dragonlair]

I do both, hard boil and feed the entire eggs crushed up to the birds. I also save all my shells, dry them, crush them in a bowl with a jar or soda bottle bottom and feed them to the girls. If the eggs are dirty, I clean and bake them before I crush them.

 

[Sandy16]

Great advice, everyone! We'll probably bake them, just to be sure. We have an assortment of egg shells in the fridge right now, just waiting to go back to the girls. One question about the oyster shells...do you mix it in with the regular feed or put in a separate bowl? If separate, do they know just how much to eat or do you only put out small amounts?

 

[bigstack]

The oyster shell I got from TSC is in pellet size chunks. there is alot of smaller stuff in there too but alot of it is fairly big. I just toss it on the ground like the scratch and when I don't see any more i will toss some more. Some people just put a bowl in the pen. It's really just your prefference! I give scratch/treats atleast once a day. ( I know they are spoiled) The oyster shell usually last about a week or maybe 2. I give 2 hand fulls at a time and more as needed. That way if they want it...it's there! If not...It's still there. LOL
I have 27 hens and soon to be down to 4 roo's.
God Bless!

 

[woodmort]

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I have a feeder attached to the inside wall of the coop that I fill with oyster shell, the chickens take it as needed. The egg shells are just tossed in with the kitchen scrap treats.

 

[En Plein Air Farms]

I crush the shells just because I don't want the girls to get the idea that poking beaks in eggs is the done thing

I also use oyster shell, we add about two heaping handfuls to the bucket we use to fill up the food hopper. Don't ask me how much that is, I don't know.
It all disappears in the end~