Ground egg shell or oyster shells?

[dainerra]

I just kind of give the shells a little smoosh with my hand and toss them in the run the next time I go down. Never had a problem with an egg eater. Have never purchased oyster shells.

 

[Gvnam]

So how do I get them to eat it????!!!! They just toss the shells around and don't bother with it...

any suggestions??

 

[Fred's Hens]

Since layer feed already has 3-4% calcium, feeding back air-dried, crushed egg shells is all I've ever done. No issues of egg eating and no concerns about "bacteria".

I've seen what chickens peck at and eat, so bacteria isn't exactly one of their huge concerns.

An egg shell is merely calcium carbonate, in make-up. More than one way to get it. I've never honestly purchased oyster shells.

 

[moetrout]

I free feed oyster shell and give egg shells anytime we use a lot of eggs up. I only rinse mine and let them dry, then quickly crush them up before giving them to the hens. I do not use layer feed, but rather flock raiser, which has no added calcuim. I have only had softshelled eggs once when I failed to notice they were out of oyster shell. I have never had an egg eater.

 

[Pele]

Chickens have many virtues, but mental acuity is certainly not one of them

If you grind up the shells in a mortar and pestle, their little brains will never in a million years connect the meal to their own eggs. I just pop mine into the microwave to zap any bacteria on the shells, grind em up, and give it to the hens as a treat. They go nuts for it!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
X2
exactly what I do but we eat way more eggs than they can eat shells so after grinding shells they go in the compost pile.

ETA
I've read that oyster shell dissolves 4 times slower than calcium carbonate(does that mean egg shells?). So it's supposed to be a superior source of calcium than anything else. That provides a constant release through the day and night.

 

[Farm_Maven]

Quote:
X2
exactly what I do but we eat way more eggs than they can eat shells so after grinding shells they go in the compost pile.

the last time I took them egg shells it didn't even make it to the oyster shell bowl. One of the hens recognized the "treat dish", spilling shell all over the run. They all went nuts, lol.

 

[Illia]

I use ground egg shells.


Also since my birds lay colored eggs, the minerals used to color my eggs blue, green, or really dark brown also help the chickens too. There's copper in the blues, iron in the dark browns, and who knows what else.

They'll either benefit future egg color or benefit the diet of the hen eating them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
Interesting, I may try that as an experiment.

 

[duckinnut]

Fred's Hens :

Since layer feed already has 3-4% calcium, feeding back air-dried, crushed egg shells is all I've ever done. No issues of egg eating and no concerns about "bacteria".

I've seen what chickens peck at and eat, so bacteria isn't exactly one of their huge concerns.

An egg shell is merely calcium carbonate, in make-up. More than one way to get it. I've never honestly purchased oyster shells.

x2 I am going to quote "Freds Hens" from another post on this same subject but not to word. He basically said dont make a simple thing complicated when feeding egg shells. Meaning baking,nuking and all the extra steps not needed. Chickens on occasion come across a soft shelled,damaged or shell-less egg and commence to eat it and any bacteria that goes along with it. I let them air dry just so they crumble easier,crush them by hand and toss in the run or in their food. Chcikens will also recycle their own poop to extract any calcium that may be present and will drink out of the dirtiest puddle they can find know matter how crystal clear water you provide them.