The Girls have discovered The Wonders of The Compost Bin which resides inside their chicken run around the coop. they very much enjoy the perfect mixture of worms and bugs and vegetable matter and egg shells.

my understanding is that you should prevent discourage hens from eating whole eggs because once they get a taste for them you’ll get a whole less eggs in your fridge.

but egg shells are a great source of calcium – are there any issues with letting them munch on the shells in the compost bin? should we crush them so they aren’t identifiable as eggs or are half shells not perceived as shells per se by little chicken brains?

and are there any other issues with letting The Girls hand out in the compost bin in general and eating egg shells in particular? i’ve seen some websites claim that you should thorougly clean the shells, cook them briefly in the oven and crumble thoroughly – is that really necessary?