Properly prepping egg shells to feed hens

[The_Patriot5150]

I was wondering how I would turn egg shells into a source of calcium for my laying hens, I didn’t know if there was a special way to do it but I would appreciate any advice, thanks

 

[Punkybrewster]

I set mine aside on a small plate to dry for a day or 2. Then i place them in the center of a dish rag and crush them up real well then scatter them in the chicken run. They gobble it up as if it were a treat.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I throw mine in the microwave for 30 seconds then crush in a paper towel and dump in the chicken bowl...takes less time than it takes to cook an egg!

 

[Aquatic_blue]

Some people wash them and bake them to kill any bacteria. Others use hot water while washing and let them dry. The end result is crushing them up by hand, with a food processor, etc. I let the kids stomp on them in the yard. I wash with hot water and stick them in the fridge until they dry out. I either crush them in a bag or let the kids stomp on them outside.

To stay on the safe side, it would be best to give the chickens only their own eggs back to them. I don't think I would do this with grocery store eggs.

 

[pibb]

I rinse the egg shell out to remove any egg left. It is easier to crush them up without the egg being cooked in them. I then microwave them for about 2 minutes to kill bacteria and dry the shell out. Then I use a small rounded bowl with a limestone rock to crush up the eggs like a mortar & pestle.

 

[nao57]

Interesting idea!

I want to try clubbing baby seals and add them also! XD JK.

It actually is a good idea to save calcium.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I want to try clubbing baby seals and add them also! XD JK.

Baby seals are very high in fat and should only be fed as a treat - no more than 10% of their diet.

Since your average baby hard seal weighs about 25 lbs, if you're going to need a lot of chickens to avoid wasted seal.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I wash in hot water no soap and set in the oven after heating it to 300°F. I turn the oven off when I set them in. By the time it cools down they are dry.

My oven is used almost daily so I just toss them in after whatever else I was cooking is done.

 

[Eelantha]

Honestly, I don't wash out, cook, boil or microwave my egg shells. I prefer to follow the natural route. When I crack an egg for a meal I let the shell and leftover egg content dry indeterminately under the sun, by a window. When I have accumulated enough egg shells to warrant some crushing (usually a full dish plate), I check them to see if anything is still wet, put the dry ones in a bowl, and use a potato masher to crush them. After that I pass the mess in an instant food chopper for a finer size of egg pieces to simulate advanced decomposition, then put everything in the calcium bowl of my hens. They think it's a treat so they eat it with enthusiasm.

The one thing I -don't- do is give my hens the egg shells of another flock, commercial or otherwise. Coccidiosis transmits by poop, and my paranoid mind prefers to avoid any potential contamination by diverting any outside egg shells to pot fills. Plants that are demanding in fertilizer seem to love having the bottom of their pots filled with egg shells for drainage, I've tried it on one last year and not only has she doubled in size since then, she doesn't seem to need fertilizer anymore. She's even giving me flowers!

 

[RumneyRoost]

I rinse them and remove the membrane. Then I microwave for 30 seconds, crush them and put them in the dish with oyster shells.