Stupid eggshell question.

[waitin on eggs]

Feeding eggshells back to the girls is good right? Can this be used in place or oyster shell or added to? Do you rinse and dry them? Break them in pieces or crush to powder? What is a good way to do this, blender food processor or just break in hands? Thanks

 

[abhaya]

I just leave them in chunks the chickens peck at them and eat what they want.

 

[crazeetxn]

Haven't ran out of oyster shell yet, but when I do I'll just rinse them out, let them dry, put them in a baggie, and crush them up with a rollin pin. From what I've read around here, some folks just throw them back out, some wash, dry, crush, grind, whatever and give them back.

Key is you don't want it to look like an egg. That way they don't start pecking and what's just been layed.

 

[catdaddy66]

I think all the advice on this subject is correct, but I would also caution against having the shells look TOO much like the original egg. The birds may get the idea that it is ok to eat a whole egg and not just the shell, so I would use the rolling pin suggestion to "disguise" the shells.

 

[SeattleChickenHead]

if you bake them it sterilizes them and cooks out the membrane, after the membrane is gone they crush like potato chips, then Ive been storing them in the freezer due to the little bit of cooked egg white on them.

 

[BrewedInNh]

We feed their shells back to them instead of oyster shell, mostly. By that I mean we started off with oyster shell, but we have lots of eggshells, and it seemed like a waste to just throw them in the compost pile. Actually, they raid our compost pile everytime they free range (nearly every day) so they'd get the shells anyway.

We collect them in a tupperware bin, and once a week I put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 275 for 30 minutes. They come out very dry and brittle. I put them in a metal bowl and crush them down with the back of a heavy plastic ladle. I crush them down to about the size of sugar granules, takes about 3 minutes.

BTW - you can also crush other crustasean shells you might have leftover, instead of buying oyster shells. Clams, mussels, scallops, lobster, shrimp (I think), etc...

 

[woodmort]

We keep a plastic container next to the sink--I think cheese curds came in it--and as we use anything that the chickens would find tasty the leftovers go into that container (last night's BBQed ribs bones for example). That includes eggs shells. When I let the girls out in the morning I dump the contents next to their ramp, making sure I stomp on the egg shells so they're broken up. I have on Red Star that grabs a shell and runs around with two or three others chasing her just about every day. Note the shells are not rinsed, baked, nuked or anything else--if there were anything in the shells that could harm the birds it would be something they already were immune to anyway so there shouldn't be any danger. BTW, I also have a wall feeder in the coop that has free choice oyster shell so they have access to that as well. The only problem we have is that the shells are really, really hard. My DW threatens to use a hammer to break them.

 

[GoldenCometLady]

I also feed back the egg shells to the girls. I keep mine in an empty
plastic coffee can right by the stove. When the can gets near to full
I use my potatoe masher to crush them. I then feed them as is.
No washing or baking required. Try to keep things simple as possible
around here.

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
x2

 

[TigerLilly]

I rinse my eggshells (only to deter attracting bugs) & when they are dry I mash them up with my potato masher...I also keep them in a plastic coffee container by the stove!
The girls seem to love them.