Feeding egg shells

[Mak]

If I have something going in the oven, I put the shells on a piece of foil and put them in with it. If not, I turn the oven temp to 200, and when it gets there, turn it off and let the shells stay in until I'm ready to take them out. them I just crush them and put them in a plastic container in the shed with their food so I can grab some whenever I feed them. In summer/fall, I use my food dehydrator because it is up here.

 

[Inkheart]

Chicken.Lytle :

I throw old eggs in the blender and scramble them, shell and all .

X2!​

 

[Frannabelle]

If I'm scrambling or frying eggs specifically for the flock, I just cook the egg shells directly in the pan. If I have shells from baking etc, I still cook them and dry out the shell, easier crumbling that way

 

[mame1616]

Quote:
X2!

X3!!!

 

[rungirl]

Baking and blending is too much trouble and not necessary... I toss the empty shells in a bowl by the sink after I use them. Then after I accumulate a good sized pile, I smash them down with the bottom of a cup until they are in tiny pieces and throw them back into the run or coop floor. They pick through them, eating what they want.

 

[newlyweds]

Quote:
That's exactly what I do, I like to let the shells dry, but I never bake them or anything, and I always crush them.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I bake mine, but what a yucky smell it creates in the house! Then I crush with a rolling pin. I mix them into the oyster shell I have and free feed.

 

[farmer_lew]

Quote:
You don't want them to develop a taste for raw eggs. The shells should be baked, or allowed to dry out completely, before feeding them to your chickens.

 

[katedf]

Agree with the folks that just bake em, smash em up and throw them in the chicken run. I keep an old dish in the bottom of the oven full time. I certainly wouldnt go with an option that involved extra washing up!I thought the idea of baking was to destroy any possible reinfection - and to stop the chickens working out that they could eat fresh egg every day if they - um - worked it out!

 

[ranchhand]

I just toss the shells in the chicken scrap bucket. They break up when I stir it all together with a wooden spoon. No fuss, no muss. Been doing it a long time and I've never had an egg eater.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who "blenderizes" whole eggs for the chickens!

I have one huge skillet I use for scrambling a dozen at a time, shell and all. That's a breakfast for special occasions - like when I can't find the OJ because of all the eggs in the fridge. I pull the oldest ones and give them back to the flock.