Feeding eggshells

[Leigti]

I want to feed the eggshells back to my chickens. I have usually just let them dry out then I crumble them up and throw them out to the chickens. I've never worried about taking off the little membrane and rinsing them when I do hard-boiled eggs. I do rinse them if I'm just cooking the eggs some other way. Do you have to remove the membrane and rents etc. or can you just let them dry out and toss them out there?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Feeding eggshells back to chickens will not do any harm to your chickens if the shells have been disinfected before hand by boiling of baking. However feeding eggshells will not help your hens in anyway and if you allow the fact that your hens are eating their own eggshells to stand in the way of feeding a proper ration with sufficient Calcium in it, then feeding their own eggshells back to your hens can indeed be injurious to your hens' health.

 

[Leigti]

Feeding eggshells back to chickens will not do any harm to your chickens if the shells have been disinfected before hand by boiling of baking.  However feeding eggshells will not help your hens in anyway and if you allow the fact that your hens are eating their own eggshells to stand in the way of feeding a proper ration with sufficient Calcium in it, then feeding their own eggshells back to your hens can indeed be injurious to your hens' health.  

They have Oystershell at all times. I just don't see any reason to throw out egg shells. So if they haven't been hard boiled then I should rinse them off? Or rinse them off before I break them open?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

They have Oystershell at all times. I just don't see any reason to throw out egg shells. So if they haven't been hard boiled then I should rinse them off? Or rinse them off before I break them open?

If you feed their eggshells back to your hens you are in effect throwing out those eggshells. Because of the nature of a chickens' digestive system, eggshell particles don't remain in the hens' body long enough for the small amount of calcium they
contain to be utilized by the hen. However most of the really bad chicken diseases are transmitted through the egg. Many of these really bad chicken diseases are seldom seen in the USA today, mainly because of the efforts of the commercial
poultry industry. So eating uncooked eggshells can be a route for infection in your flock and any laying pellets or laying mash worth the name already has sufficient calcium in it. Do whatever it is that you want to do anyway but remember that
feeding their eggshells back to them will not get you or your flock past Goal nor will it mean that you get to collect $200 from the bank.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

I want to feed the eggshells back to my chickens. I have usually just let them dry out then I crumble them up and throw them out to the chickens. I've never worried about taking off the little membrane and rinsing them when I do hard-boiled eggs. I do rinse them if I'm just cooking the eggs some other way. Do you have to remove the membrane and rents etc. or can you just let them dry out and toss them out there?

I have never, ever experienced problems with feeding eggshells back to my chickens. If your hens have a habit of eating their eggs after laying them, be sure to rinse and crush the eggshells so as to not give the hens any ideas or tastes of raw egg. Crushing them will make them easier for the birds to consume. I would not recommend feeding your chickens eggshells from the grocery store. These are normally sprayed with preservatives and other chemicals that could harm your birds.

Overall, fresh eggshells are filled with calcium and very healthy for your chickens.

 

[Leigti]

If you feed their eggshells back to your hens you are in effect throwing out those eggshells.  Because of the nature of a chickens' digestive system, eggshell particles don't remain in the hens' body long enough for the small amount of calcium they
contain to be utilized by the hen.  However most of the really bad chicken diseases are transmitted through the egg.  Many of these really bad chicken diseases are seldom seen in the USA today, mainly because of the efforts of the commercial
poultry industry. So eating uncooked eggshells can be a route for infection in your flock and any laying pellets or laying mash worth the name already has sufficient calcium in it.  Do whatever it is that you want to do anyway but remember that
feeding their eggshells back to them will not get you or your flock past Goal nor will it mean that you get to collect $200 from the bank.

My chickens do not eat their eggs. Never even had one broken. I am not looking for some shortcut or reason not to provide proper nutrition. I do provide proper nutrition. Thank you. I've just heard a lot of people say they feed the eggshells to the chickens and I wanted to make sure I was doing it safely. So you are saying there's absolutely no benefit to it? And could even be dangerous? I'm only questioning this because I've never heard this opinion before. I've only had chickens a couple years so I don't know everything but this was just news to me.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I just throw mine out in the field and they get eaten, no washing or baking.