Egg shells contain calcium carbonate, an essential nutrient for laying hens. If they become stressed or encounter predator sniffing, their shells could become weakened or even deformed and eventually crack open, compromising laying production and diminishing productivity.
Commercial layer feed contains all of the essential micro-ingredients (including calcium) necessary for producing nutritious eggs; however, for best results and optimal egg health it may be beneficial to supplement with crushed shells and limestone flour.
Contents
Clean
Eggs may appear perfect from the outside, but that does not always reflect their internal quality. Small flock chicken keepers may encounter wrinkled eggs under the roost; these could indicate direct feces-to-shell contact or bacteria penetration into their shell, but should not cause alarm as long as the hen seems healthy and fresh eggs have been produced.
As with most food, washing most food products helps lower the chances of foodborne illness, so egg producers typically wash their products before being sold to consumers. Unfortunately, however, washing an egg does not render it safer to eat as bacteria may still seep through its porous shell after leaving its hen’s body and colonize its pores.
Eggshells become porous when wet, providing access to bacteria which can seep into both egg white and yolk. Therefore, it’s vital that eggshells be thoroughly washed prior to feeding them to your chickens – too much calcium from eggshells could even cause kidney stones in humans!
Dry
Eggshells take up a lot of space in your compost bin or trash can and many people dispose of them without giving them much thought. While eggshells may seem inconsequential at first, they make for excellent additions to chicken feed if properly cleaned and dried beforehand – this makes handling much simpler as well as providing them with safer nutritional value for chickens.
Baking or leaving them out in the sun should suffice in drying your shells completely before crushing into small pieces – otherwise chickens could recognize and start eating the eggshells!
Hens need plenty of calcium in their diet in order to produce strong, nutritious eggs. Sometimes commercial layer feed isn’t sufficient in meeting this need – if you see lots of eggless hens among your flock it could be because of nutritional deficiencies, stress, overcrowding or disease; or simply due to her shell gland malfunctioning at the end of molting season.
Crush
Hens require a considerable amount of calcium in their diet in order to produce hard egg shells, with that calcium eventually depositing on their shell layers during assembly. Without enough calcium intake, their bones will begin leaching calcium out resulting in thin-shelled eggs or even worse, prolapsed vent or death of the hens.
Before feeding dry eggshells to your chickens, it’s essential that they be completely devoid of moisture and crushed up so they no longer resemble eggs. This ensures they won’t become habitually pecking at them and eating them as snacks; otherwise this could just as dangerous for their health as oyster shell or limestone flour which are much more costly options.
Mix
Eggshells mixed into chicken feed is often controversial. But as long as the shells are clean, dry, and crushed up into fine particles before being added into their feed, mixing eggshells may provide extra calcium without making the chickens hungry for something else.
A laying hen requires the correct amounts of various micronutrients, such as calcium, to produce eggs of high quality and maintain her health. If she receives too little, her bloodstream calcium could get drawn down into her cortical bones causing them to be weak or even cause fractures if excess isn’t replenished in time.
Most layer feed is specially formulated to contain the required vitamins and minerals for optimal laying hen performance, but extra calcium supplements remain crucial. Crushed oyster shell or calcium grit can easily be mixed in with their regular food to meet this need – just be sure to bake these first to eliminate any pathogens present!
