Feeding shells back...remove membrane, why?

[Evelyn's Mom]

I searched for this question but came up empty so I'm sorry if it's already been answered a dozen times.... I feed crushed up shells back to my chickens and try to remove the membrane. I lose some shell fragments this way...
...Anyone know why we remove the membrane? I know it makes the pieces more separate... but why else?

 

[Rose Quartz]

I searched for this question but came up empty so I'm sorry if it's already been answered a dozen times.... I feed crushed up shells back to my chickens and try to remove the membrane. I lose some shell fragments this way...
...Anyone know why we remove the membrane? I know it makes the pieces more separate... but why else?

Some think it could be a choking hazard. But if the shells are dry thats not gonna happen.

 

[IamRainey]

I have no idea why you should.

I microwave my empty shells because they get more brittle and break up easily that way. Also no albumen will collect bacteria after they're nuked.

Once they're microwaved the membrane at the wide end comes off easily in a single piece. I remove that because it's lightweight and messy because it flies around. I don't worry about removing any more membrane than that.

 

[BantamLover21]

When I've fed crushed egg shells back to my birds, I've never removed the membrane. Once the shells are dry and crumbly, you don't even notice the membrane. And if they're dry, the membrane poses almost no bacteria-growth hazard.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Not me... crack the egg and let the shell dry before crushing to avoid mold, while they wait in my collection container, until I feed them out.

Boiled egg shells, I make sure they hit the yard by the next day.

I don't know... 9 years or so keeping chickens, I haven't seen any issues yet with regards to feeding back eggs shells. Some people even bake theirs. Not my style, I try to keep it simple.

 

[anna-newhampshire]

I just bake them (when I bake something else) and never remove the membrane. All goes well.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I just dry my shells on the counter. Crush them up after they have been drying out for a few days and feed them back to the chickens. Easy. I think some just over think it and do more than necessary.

 

[Evelyn's Mom]

Well, sweet! I do wash them and let them air dry... now that you all don't remove the membrane, my clean up in the kitchen just got a whole lot quicker! Thanks!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Well, sweet! I do wash them and let them air dry... now that you all don't remove the membrane, my clean up in the kitchen just got a whole lot quicker! Thanks!

That's all well and good, but crushed egg shells is a very poor substitute for oyster shells or other more reliable sources of Calcium Carbonate.

 

[anna-newhampshire]

Should have mentioned I bake them for the interspecies situation only.

I can see us with our dedicated space on the counter for drying eggshells lol.