Feeding Your Chickens Crushed Egg Shells

[Carter Martin]

Hi all,
I was wondering what everybody thinks about feeding crushed egg shells for extra calcium and phosphate instead of oyster shell to laying hens. My chickens get layer pellets as the normal food. Should I mix the egg shells with the food or put them in a separate container. Do they even need extra calcium if they are fed layer pellets?

 

[50-45-1]

Regardless of what your normal feed is, free choice oyster shell & granite grit avaliable all year is best.
Both items are cheep and last a long time
I also save my egg shells, let them air dry crush them and feed them back. I use a separate wall hanging piglet hopper inside coop for oyster shell and grit
Different hens may have different requirements regarding calcium. They will consume when they need it.

 

[DobieLover]

I too feed both oyster shell and crushed egg shells.
I usually nuke the shells with a little of the albumen left in them for 30 seconds in the microwave. I collect all the shells for one week's use and deliver the gift on Tuesday morning. It's more of a treat than anything. The girls see me pull the bag out of my pocket and jump up to try to rip it out of my hands. I only lasts a day and a half.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

You shouldn’t feed the egg shells as their sole source of calcium. Egg shells are a quick-releasing form of calcium where oyster shells are slow-releasing. Meaning, the calcium in egg shells may be long gone from the hen’s system by the time she needs it. Egg shells are also not a very high source of calcium. I’ve personally learned that the hard way. I usually feed my girls all flock or grower feed so their feed doesn’t contain a lot of extra calcium. I would mix 2-3 tablespoons of oyster shells with about one cup of egg shells for my 15 hens and they’d devour all if it daily and still have thin shells. I finally switched to about 1/2 cup of egg shells per one cup of oyster shells and not only do they not devour it like they are starving, but the quality of their egg shells have improved. So by all means, feed the shells back to them, but don’t rely on it.

 

[DobieLover]

Egg shells are also not a very high source of Vladimir.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Ah yes. Vladimir. The newest mineral on the market

Oops. That was a terrible autocorrect fail! I totally meant calcium.

 

[Kiki]

Hi all,
I was wondering what everybody thinks about feeding crushed egg shells for extra calcium and phosphate instead of oyster shell to laying hens. My chickens get layer pellets as the normal food. Should I mix the egg shells with the food or put them in a separate container. Do they even need extra calcium if they are fed layer pellets?

No they don't really need the extra if your feed is formulated with calcium for laying birds.

 

[Stephanie8806]

No they don't really need the extra if your feed is formulated with calcium for laying birds.

Well, in theory. You’re assuming that said chickens feed intake 100% from a formulated feed. I don’t know of any non commercially raised chickens that don’t receive some sort of non feed supplement... be it some free ranging, produce, grubs, gardens trimmings, scratch, etc. All those things reduce the ratio of “specially formulated minerals”, even though it provides other benefits.

 

[Kiki]

Well, in theory. You’re assuming that said chickens feed intake 100% from a formulated feed. I don’t know of any non commercially raised chickens that don’t receive some sort of non feed supplement... be it some free ranging, produce, grubs, gardens trimmings, scratch, etc. All those things reduce the ratio of “specially formulated minerals”, even though it provides other benefits.

I don't feed any of my birds treats.

 

[Kiki]

Well, in theory. You’re assuming that said chickens feed intake 100% from a formulated feed. I don’t know of any non commercially raised chickens that don’t receive some sort of non feed supplement... be it some free ranging, produce, grubs, gardens trimmings, scratch, etc. All those things reduce the ratio of “specially formulated minerals”, even though it provides other benefits.

You are correct, I do assume people feed their birds a complete balanced diet.