Used, baked egg shells

We’re getting two eggs a day right now from the three hens in our flock. We can’t really tell whose is whose as they’re all of a very similar colour, so to be fair to the flock we have to assume they’re all contributing something.

But when chickens start laying eggs they also start using up their bodies’ calcium supplies, and if you don’t want them to get weak bones, it needs to be replenished.

Most feed suppliers also sell crushed oyster shell, which you mix with their feed to replace the calcium in their bodies, but on the farm we used to save the eggs shells, crush them up and give them back to the hens. So this morning that’s what I did.

I took the shells from the eggs we ate the other day, baked them in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes to kill off any bugs, then took a rolling pin and ground them down to a powder.

There are two reasons for doing this: first, it makes them easier to eat (and the chucks won’t see the powder in among their layers pellets), and second, I don’t want them getting used to the idea of eating something that looks like an egg. If they do, they could start eating the fresh ones they’ve just laid, and that will be a problem.

So I fed them this morning with the added egg shell and they tucked in merrily, seemingly oblivious to its existence.

Could this be recycling taken to its ultimate conclusion?

Related posts:

1. Oyster shell
2. What do chickens eat?
3. The chickens dig for victory