egg shells as calcium source

[MattMansChickens]

is crushed eggshells a good source of calcium for laying hens?

 

[b.hromada]

Lots of us use them for our girls.

 

[FarmerJohn3285]

Yes they are, actually. Although, you will hear some ppl baking them in the oven for a few mins to harden them even more so after crushing them into smaller peices.

The only thing you have to be wary of is the fact that it may entice some hens or roos to start the bad habit of egg eating. However, I think if crushed into small enough peices and given sporadically like a treat this will have minimal chance of occuring.

 

[harleyjo]

Some people on here do feed them to them. Here is my story on them. I did try feeding them for awhile. I would bake them first then crush them. Shortly after I started feeding them to the girls, some of them started eating their eggs. I also have oyster shell in the coop. I don't know if they are connected but I quit feeding them egg shell and hope my new chicks won't start that bad habit.

 

[harleyjo]

Quote:
Yes, this is exactly what happened to me.

 

[Christie Rhae]

I was paranoid about giving eggshells to chickens because of the dreaded egg eating habit.
But after reading that others do I decided to try. I have been trying to reduce waste in our house and thought this was another way to reduce-reuse-recycle.
So I collect a couple dz. eggshells. Place them on a cookie sheet in the oven for a little while with oven turned low..250 maybe.
Then I put them in a ziplock back and crush them to tiny bits with a rolling pin. I add them to my girls evening bowl of slop/scraps. They have never eaten an egg since I started. I had eggs that appeared to have been eaten in the past but now I think they were accidentally broken in the nest box and no chicken is gonna pass up something yummy. But since I upped the calcium (crushed egg shell, oyster shell, cabbage, spinach, etc) I have never seen a broken egg in the nest boxes.
For the record I would never ever take a freshly broken open egg shell and give it to them. That, I am afraid they might recognize and make the connection to their own eggs.

 

[2DogsFarm]

I feed my girls 2 scrambled eggs complete with shells mixed into oatmeal every morning.
I just break the eggs into the same bowl as the oatmeal, smoosh everything together & add a little water then nuke for 2min 40sec.
I also add plain yougrt for more calcium.
No egg-eaters in my coop.

FWIW:
my youngest hen sometimes lays from the roost & if this egg breaks & I'm not quick enough, it gets eaten.
If the shavings cushion the egg I can collect it - so the other hens don't bother with an intact egg outside the nestbox.

 

[MattMansChickens]

thanks, what i picked up is it is a bad habit for the hens to start eating eggs, but if they have enough calcium they don't eat them. thanks, matt

 

[harleyjo]

Quote:
My chickens have always had plenty of calcium, the egg shells were baked and crushed very small and I still got egg eaters. I will not make this mistake again with egg shells. It is very upsetting to go get your eggs and have 5 or 6 of them eaten before you can even get them.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Quote:
I have a BR who lays "flying eggs" too. lol. She plops them out from about 4 feet up on a roost and I have thick pine shavings underneath so usually the egg survives and nobody messes with it. Now if it cracks... these are scavengers after all and they aint gonna let a perfectly good broken egg go to waste.

But like I said that rarely ever happens.