Met a woman at a feed store in Ohio who kept 30 hens in her backyard and swore by feeding them scrambled eggs every Sunday

She said it made their shells stronger and their feathers shinier, has anyone else tried feeding cooked eggs back to their flock or is that just asking for trouble?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.sandra18d ago

Started off totally against it cause I thought it was weird and maybe even risky, but then I tried it with my own flock a couple years back and it honestly changed my mind. The eggs I give them are just plain scrambled or hard boiled, no salt or oil, and I crush up the shells too so they get that calcium boost. My hens stopped having thin shell issues after a few weeks and their feathers did get noticeably glossier, which I didn't expect. Just make sure you cook the eggs first so they don't get a taste for raw ones and start breaking their own eggs. It's not something I do every week anymore, just whenever I have extra, but it works fine for us.

jordan65318d ago

Oh man, this is such a good point. I've seen a bunch of people online say the same thing about cooked eggs helping with shell quality, and it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. I read somewhere that the calcium in crushed shells is actually easier for them to absorb than just store-bought grit, which kinda blew my mind. @kim.sandra, the glossy feather thing is wild though, I never would have guessed that part. I mean, I'm still a little on the fence about trying it myself only because I'm worried about messing up their normal food balance, but your experience is making me reconsider.

ryan_carr599d ago

Started crushing shells into their feed about a year back and it fixed our shell problem dead simple.