# Feeding eggs to chickens



## KristyHall

Sometimes if I drop or damage an egg, or if I am just completely overwhelmed with them, I crush the eggs and shells and mix them withs  me cooked rice or some other treat for the chickens and feed them back, but someone told me it's not good for the chickens to do that.
Is it ok to give them back their eggs?


----------



## Beekissed

I wouldn't listen to what anyone says about all that.  I've been feeding my eggs back to my chickens for years and never have had an egg eater nor any bad results from it.  

When I get a damaged egg my method is to throw it out in the yard....whomever gets to it first is the winner~dog or chickens.  

You really don't have to cook the eggs or disguise them in any way....just give it to them.  The protein and the calcium is great for them.


----------



## KristyHall

Thanks, that is reassuring. I had one egg eater and I broke that habbit by buying those cheap plastic easter eggs, filling them with sand and taping them shut. I then placed them in all the nesting boxes and after a while, the culprit quit breaking eggs.


----------



## secuono

Hard boil or scramble the eggs, never give them the raw product. If you drop an egg, clean it up asap.


----------



## meme

I feed my chickens eggs once in a while. But I don`t do it that much, because I don`t want them to eat their eggs, right after they lay them. Its not bad for them. I would feed them about 3 or 4 chicken eggs a month.

                       good luck,


----------



## TigerLilly

I feed my chickens cooked eggs periodically (like when I drop 1). I always feed them the eggshells for calcium.


----------



## chicks & ducks

I feed my chickens and ducks(and occasionally the cats grab a bite too) chicken eggs, scrambled. Usually it's only in 1 of 2 circumstances=
1. we have run out of chicken food at the last minute
or
2. we have 10 dozen or so eggs sitting in the fridge that need to be gone within the week.

I also sometimes will feed them eggs in the winter just to warm them up a little bit.  It probably doesn't matter to them but it makes me feel a bit better.


----------



## spifamily

I always crush extra eggs, or partially pecked eggs back to the livestock.  I had 6 eggs in a pail last night, and watched my Mcnabb steal the last one out of the pail and eat it.  I didn't know it was the last one until I caught her with it!


----------



## MonsterMalak

I would make sure to boil, cook, or mix in a feed.  Otherwise, the chickens can learn to eat their own eggs.  Then the habbit can spread rapidly, and is hard to break.  

But eggs are a great food source, sad to waste it.


----------



## elevan

When scrambled or hard cooked the eggs no longer even remotely resemble an egg to a chicken. 

My girls are picky though and only 2 are willing to eat scrambled eggs...most of our extras got to the pig or the dogs (when there are extras).  My girls would much rather you give them a large juicy worm than a scrambled egg


----------



## KellyHM

If I crack an egg or one is especially dirty I just break it and let the girls go at it.  If they break one themselves they eat it, so I don't see the problem.  I've never had any issues with egg eaters.  If I drop an intact egg they just look at it like "what am I suppose to do with that?"


----------



## Royd Wood

Beekissed said:
			
		

> I wouldn't listen to what anyone says about all that.  I've been feeding my eggs back to my chickens for years and never have had an egg eater nor any bad results from it.
> 
> When I get a damaged egg my method is to throw it out in the yard....whomever gets to it first is the winner~dog or chickens.
> 
> You really don't have to cook the eggs or disguise them in any way....just give it to them.  The protein and the calcium is great for them.


Same method here and if I have a bird thats a little rough then a raw egg is a pick me up remedy.

Rules here are if its in the nest boxes leave it alone or keep it warm - if it hits the deck then gobble it up or run round the block with eggshell and every other chicken in hot persuit


----------



## Antonio75

From my experience I can tell you that is not very good to feed the chickens with eggs. The reason is that if your chickens taste the eggs once they will like the taste and will eat your eggs if they have the opportunity.

Feeding chickens with eggs will not harm them but be careful to take the eggs quickly or build a system where the chickens can not reach the eggs.


----------



## manybirds

When we did that they started eating all of there eggs


----------



## foxywench

my experience has been if a chicken is going to start destorying/eating its own eggs it will do it whether or not you feed it eggs raw or not...
generally under normal circumstances chickens will lay, sit and hatch, any that dont hatch are typically cracked and eaten by momma hen if not eaten y something else first...it is VERY VERY natural for hens to eat eggs...
eggs are also good for them, they are high protein and high but balanced in calcium and phosphorus if fed whole.
once cooked however the protein changes and isnt as nutritious to animals that arnt built to digest the "new" form of the protein strand. (pretty much any animal other than humans, even humans cant fully process the change in protein change) raw is MUCH more nutritious!

cooking the eggs doesnt mean there useless, just not quite AS good for them...

our girls get any cracked/dropped eggs raw fresh whoever gets it first, they LOVE it, but have not once broken and eaten any of their eggs on purpose...unless we drop it/crack it, they dont bother with it...

so eating raw egg does NOT automatically mean the chickens will start devouring all their eggs...
some hens are however pre-determined to eat the eggs out of the nest box...

its like saying feeding your dog raw chicken means there going to hunt and kill the chikens...
or feeding the cat fish means your koi pond isnt safe anymore...

all my animals are raw fed and all of them seem to know the difference...
my dogs dont chase the chickens
my cats dont fish in the koi pond (though my kitten is facinated with my betta fish lol)
my chickens dont devour their own nests...


----------



## TGreenhut

I feed raw eggs to my chickens once in awhile and I have never had any problems _except_ they get messy yolk on their faces haha! I wouldn't worry about it if I were you...


----------

