Chickens are natural foragers and will graze on just about anything that crosses their path, so it is crucial that their diet consists of high quality commercial poultry feed or an appropriate homemade mixture that meets their dietary requirements.
Supplementing their diet with extra calcium can help them to produce thicker, less breakable eggshells. To do this effectively, give crushed eggshells as free-choice food rather than mixing it into their feed.
Contents
Whole Eggs
Yes, chickens can consume whole eggs when prepared properly and cooked. Incorporating their own or other hen’s eggs into their diet as a source of additional protein during stressful or sick times may help boost their wellbeing and help add energy.
Eating raw eggs, on the other hand, is an irresponsible habit that’s difficult to break once established and may result in nutritional deficiencies within your flock.
Hard boiled or scrambled chicken eggs provide the most optimal way to feed chickens eggs, altering their shape, aroma, and texture while providing them with essential proteins, fats, vitamins (A,D and all B complex vitamins), minerals such as calcium iron phosphorus zinc selenium sodium as well as other elements. Furthermore, hard boiling helps prevent egg-eating behavior which might arise in overcrowded nesting areas.
Scrambled Eggs
Chickens going through molting need extra protein to regrow their feathers and eggs. Scrambled eggs provide this boost without adding too much fat to their diet.
Egg shells can provide a rich source of calcium. Hens that lay frequently require lots of it, which is why you should save and wash eggshells before grinding them up and feeding them back to your chickens.
Baby chicks require a diet of 20% protein for healthy development. Scrambled eggs can provide them with this necessary source of nutrition; just be sure that they’re fully cooked so they don’t develop an affinity for raw eggs, which could encourage them to peck at them themselves and thus reducing egg yield and thus their health as well as your egg yield.
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Hard-boiled egg whites are firm and easily eaten, making them great additions to breakfast sandwiches and snacks. In addition, their firm texture can also be utilized in salads or deviled egg recipes.
To boil eggs, place them in a saucepan with enough cool water to cover by an inch and slowly bring it to a boil, before switching off and allowing the eggs to simmer for 12 minutes before draining and cooling in a colander or sink before refrigerating for up to a week before using as desired.
Addition of just a few tablespoons of vinegar can make egg peeling much simpler. Some people also steam their eggs for about 15 minutes prior to cooling; this softens their shell and allows easier removal.
Eggshells
Controversy remains over the practice of feeding egg shells to chickens; some feel that this practice is unnecessary while others swear by its benefits as an excellent source of calcium for their flock.
Hens must consume large amounts of calcium to feed their shell gland cells that produce the eggshells, taking 18-20 hours for their bodies to complete this task. Vitamin D3 aids this process by increasing how quickly calcium passes from intestinal lining into bloodstream.
Your best way of providing extra calcium for your laying hens is giving them their own eggshells as food. Many chicken keepers bake these eggshells to kill any parasites or bacteria and make it easier for the chickens to digest them; alternatively you could give your birds unbaked eggshells that have been crushed into small pieces or turned into powder form.
