Shells recycled

[wohneli]

I have been recycling the shells from our eggs and feeding them back to the girls.
I dry them out on a cookie sheet in the oven at about 225 degrees for about a half hour and then put them in the coffee grinder to powder them. They are then easy to add to the feed.
Any comments?

 

[RendonRoo]

I do about the same thing but i have a small feeder and offer it free choice. The layer feed has extra calcium and if they need more they can get it. Good Luck

 

[terri9630]

I put them in the microwave for 45 seconds to cook what ever may be stuck to the shell and then just smash them into small pieces but not a powder. They love it.

 

[vnploveschickens]

All I do is throw them in a bag and every couple of weeks, crush them well for the layers who want it. Works just fine for me.

 

[TexasVet]

Once I've dumped the contents of an egg into a bowl or skillet, I crush the shell in my hand and toss it into the "chicken leftovers" bucket. I've been doing this for a couple of years... no rinsing, no cooking, no microwave... and haven't turned a single chicken into an egg eater.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[terri9630]

I'm not worried about egg eaters. I microwave the eggs to cook what is left over on them because the flys my kids like to let in aren't as attracted to the cooked egg. That way I can take the treat bucket out once a day. If I didn't micorwave the egg shells the flys would swarm the kitchen and drive me nuts.

 

[TexasVet]

The flies nearly drove us nuts back in May, right after the last rain storm. They were huge and everywhere! I've never seen so many flies in all my life, and I'm 53. But since then, there have been very few flies and no mosquitoes at all. Two months without rain and triple-digit heat will do that for 'ya!

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[nursemeh]

Kathy, and others with experience feeding kitchen scraps,

Here's a dumb newbie question for ya:
Can you list the most common things that you put in your "chicken leftovers" bucket?

We are new at this and have been experiementing with all sorts of food scraps and things. Cranberries get gobbled up, nobody seems to like cantaloupe, but they love watermelon, etc,etc.

I guess I'd just like to know, from one with experience, what are the easiest, less mess, etc things that are most likely to be gobbled up?

thanks!
Mary
Conroe,Texas

 

[wohneli]

We regularly give them almost anything except meat, which they get once in a blue moon. Mine also aren't fond of cantaloupe, but will devour cantaloupe seeds. I expect to have little cantaloupe volunteers all over the yard next year.

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
We've had quite a few humid days (for the desert) lately and they flys are awfull. We don't usually have a fly problem. The poor horses are covered even with the fly spray. I was hoping the chickens would help out with the flys but they are ignoring them.