Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Craig69 on November 10, 2010, 09:07
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To get more calcium back into my girls i know i can feed them eggshell.
Do i have to bake it 1st or just crush it up as it is?
Just seems a waste throwing all my used eggshells on the compost when the girls can benefit from them!
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wash it and then bake it (I do a batch whenever my oven is on but I do know somebody on here used to pop theirs in the microwave (with a cup of water) and then crush them. Don't overbake them as they smell horrid and probably taste nasty too, just do it for a few minutes to kill any bugs :)
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I whiz them in the magimix and when they are all laying and I get a bit of a build-up of eggs, i hard boil the oldest eggs, let them cool then whiz the whole lot.
The hens love it and its good for chicks as well :)
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Interesting to read on this subject, I always thought giving them egg shells would entice them to eat their own eggs!! Anyway, how do you feed them to the chickens? is it mixed up in their food i.e pellets/mash or should it be kept separate like the grit,etc.
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as my girls all peck away at my drive for their grit I simply sprinkle the crushed shells on that but in winter I simply add it to their feed or if I have a lot I put it into a little pot. As it is crushed it doesn't look like egg shells so therefor it doesn't entice them to eat their own eggs :)
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I intend to mix it in with their feed or in a seperate pot if i have quite a bit as Joyful does!
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mine have a seperate bowl with flint and shell in it, they helthemselves when the want, but as they free range most of the day dont take much.
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I rinse and save shells for when the oven is on then whack them in for about 10 mins, leave them to cool, crush them and put them in their grit pot. The entire lot is usually gone within an hour. my hens LOVE them. i wasn't sure how long to bake them for but i read somewhere that they go brown when they are ready. mine don't really but they change colour slightly - especially the inside goes yellowish. Hens seem to like them and so far no probs!