The idea of giving eggshells as feed to chickens may seem strange, but it has a scientific basis: the shells are rich in calcium, which is very good for the animals! You just need to process them so the birds don't suspect anything. Over time, your entire chicken house will be healthier and even more productive!
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Dehydrating the husks
Step 1. Collect the broken eggshells from the chicken house or your kitchen
Whenever you use eggs for cooking, store the shells in a plastic bowl with a lid. Also, go through the chicken coop and collect everything that is scattered in it.
You can do this with eggs that your chickens lay or even those that come from the supermarket
Step 2. Preheat oven to 175ºC
Place a rack in the middle of the oven, turn it on and wait while it heats up.
Step 3. Distribute the eggshells on a baking sheet
As the wet membrane of the eggs helps the shell retain its shape, you have to dehydrate it to be able to crush the material. Therefore, break all the skins in half and distribute in a single layer on the baking sheet.
Step 4. Place the skins in the oven for ten minutes
Place the pan with the egg shells on the rack in the middle of the oven. After ten minutes, withdraw the tray and allow the material to cool. From then on, the shells will break with any impact.
If the skins are still hard, put them back in the oven for two or three minutes
Tip:
you can also dehydrate the husks by leaving the tray in the sun for a day or two.
Part 2 of 3: Crushing the Shells
Step 1. Place the eggshells in a zip lock bag when they are cold
Transfer as much of the roasting shell as possible to a zip lock bag. Then close the zipper.
If necessary, break up the larger pieces of shell with your hands before putting everything in the bag
Step 2. Beat a kitchen roll into the skins
Hold the roller in your dominant hand and the bag in the other. Tap the shells lightly with the tool, being careful not to tear the plastic.
You can also use a meat hammer
Step 3. Grind the egg shells into a flour
Hold the roller by the corners and roll over the shells (as if they were a dough). Turn the bag every four or five passes to make everything really crumbly. Finally, you can serve the husks to the chickens when they form a kind of flour.
Warning:
break all the eggshells, or the hens may recognize the material and end up eating their own eggs.
Part 3 of 3: Feeding the Chicken Shell Flour
Step 1. Place a bowl of flour from the shells in the chicken coop
Put the shells you just crushed in the chicken coop, next to the bowl of water. The chickens will peck the flour whenever they want and thus increase their calcium intake. Whenever necessary, restock the product.
Always leave a bowl of regular feed in the chicken coop! Chickens will not survive on eggshell flour alone
Step 2. Mix the eggshells with the normal chicken feed
If you don't want the chickens to get used to the taste of eggshell flour, mix it with regular kibble. The animals will eat everything, as if there is no difference. Here's another simple way to increase your calcium intake!
Feed the eggshell flour to the chickens little by little. They need to get used to the taste
Step 3. Start giving chickens oyster meal if they eat their own eggs
Sometimes, chickens like the taste of the shells so much that they end up eating the eggs they lay. If you notice something like this, take the regular flour from the chicken coop and start using a special kind made with oyster shells. This alternative also has calcium.