Geritol, but for older hens

[2 Acres]

What about the potential bacteria living in the in the shell? Dry or wet. None of my chickens will eat grit or oyster shell. They never have.

Baking the shells kills any bacteria in the shell.

 

[fat brown hen]

What about the potential bacteria living in the in the shell? Dry or wet. None of my chickens will eat grit or oyster shell. They never have.

I put the shells out as soon as I use the eggs -- Not enough time for bacteria to proliferate. My chickens only eat flaked oyster shell, so that's what I buy for them.

 

[2 Acres]

Why soak them? And for how long?

I just toss the shells into an 8 qt stock pot. I soak the shells to get any icky residue loosened up. Then I bake the shells at roughly 350. Then I crumble up the shells and use an Oyster chopper to pulverize the shells.

 

[2 Acres]

Almost 2 lbs almost 2 lbs of egg shell

 

[2 Acres]

Almost 2 lbs almost 2 lbs of egg shell

View attachment 4206729

Almost 2 lbs of eggshell

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I had an egg eater, briefly, and when I caught her at it she had an entire half an egg shell in her beak, having already downed the other half along with its contents. Before I could yell, "Raven, NO!" it had disappeared down her gullet. I don't feed shells to my girls but if I did I think I would just put them in an empty bread bag till it was full, stomp on it once or twice and then toss them out into their run. That icky residue is albumin, a protein that's probably good for them.

The reason I don't do this is because I have dogs, and one thing I don't want them to learn is that eggs is yummy.