how to feed cooked, ground and rolled up eggshells to my girls

[Dhkoenig]

Hi All. I thought it would be a shame to let my ladies eggshells go to waste, so I washed them, got the membranes off, baked them, crushed them up in a baggie and then used a rolling pin to grind them into a sand consistency. So what is the best way to serve it to them? Do I mix it with their feed? Do I put it in with their grit and oyster shells? Any insight would be great. Thanks!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

At a sand consistency I suppose you could mix small amounts with your feed.

I usually just toss my shells on an old "shells only" dedicated baking sheet, then pop them in the oven after I'm done baking something. This crisps them up (which my hens like). Once cooled, I just crunch them up a little into fairly large flakes, toss them in the run. The hens will break them up further.

Everyone does things differently. https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/10/can-you-feed-eggshells-to-chickens.html

 

[Percheron chick]

Too much work for me. Just toss them in the chicken bucket and dump them in the run. I do like them dry. I just step on them to break them down into smaller pieces.

 

[Dhkoenig]

At a sand consistency I suppose you could mix small amounts with your feed.

I usually just toss my shells on an old "shells only" dedicated baking sheet, then pop them in the oven after I'm done baking something. This crisps them up (which my hens like). Once cooled, I just crunch them up a little into fairly large flakes, toss them in the run. The hens will break them up further.

Everyone does things differently. https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/10/can-you-feed-eggshells-to-chickens.html

Thanks this was great! I read the article too!

 

[Dhkoenig]

Too much work for me. Just toss them in the chicken bucket and dump them in the run. I do like them dry. I just step on them to break them down into smaller pieces.

Everybody has to do what works for them! Your method sounds simple and easy!

 

[Cebarmlds]

There's no reason to remove the membranes.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds, throw them in a bag and pound them with my meat tenderizer till they are small pieces, not really sand consistency then put them in a small container and they help themselves

 

[Acre4Me]

You already serve oyster shell, so you can just mix it into wet mash or sprinkle the shells into their feed. Personally, I’d save those egg shells all year and add to pepper and tomato planting holes in the garden (or melons, pumpkins, squash), as they all benefit with extra calcium.

 

[jreardon1918]

We place all kitchen scraps in a bowl. The shells get a quick crushing. No cleaning, baking. Just to make them unrecognizable. At night, after the roosting hour, we disperse the contents of the bowl into the run, and then give it quick mix. So the girls have to find the egg shells, meat and vegetable scraps. This encourages daily turning of the run bedding.

 

[3KillerBs]

I made a feeder from an orange juice bottle: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/recycled-bottle-feed-scoop-and-calcium-feeder.76244/