Can you feed chickens eggshells?

[Suzanne Day]

My mom says my grandfather used to feed their chickens the empty shells, for the calcium.  My brother says that's how Mad Cow disease got started in cows.

 

Bad idea?

[Suzanne Day]

Thanks for all your replies folks, I really appreciate your guidance!

Composting eggshells and oyster shells for the hens, it is!

[Suzie O'Connor]

Don't feed your chickens egg shell that is one way of starting them braking their eggs that they lay. Put oyster shell in a separate bowl so they can get to it easily.



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[Donna Bruce]

My parents did that when I was growing up. The chickens started eating their eggs. So we just started giving them the oyster shell. I grind my dried egg shells into powder for my vegetable garden to give them calcium.

[Suze Scott]

Cattle are vegetarians; they are not made to eat meat. Chickens are omnivores; they will eat anything that does not first eat them, and that includes chicks, eggs and (occasionally) even other chickens; they need a diet that includes both plant and animal materials. Not common in the US, but in some parts of the world adding bone meal and blood meal to ruminant feed was a common practice. It is now banned world-wide.

My understanding is that no amount of cooking will kill the virus that causes Mad Cow Disease. It can be present in all tissue of an infected animal, but is more heavily concentrated in central nervous system tissue.

[Michele]

If the egg shells are ground into powder, they can be added to the chicken feed when the eggshells start to thin, or put in a dish separate from the feed. the time to stop supplementing is when little calcium bumps appear on the eggs.