FINCHforum

My birds never really ate much crushed eggshell when I would crush with a fork in their eggfood, or when I offered them "Hatched" in a separate treat cup. I started saving the shells from hard boiled eggs, or from cooking and grinded them down to a fine powder.

I've been adding it to eggfood and sprouted seed for the pairs that are currently laying eggs and they love it more than ever. I guess because not only does it help dry out some of the moisture, but they like the texture of it a little bit more.

I'm sure some of you do this also, but I figured I'd share a few photos I took making it with some sprouted seeds.

That's pretty clever of you.
I put pieces of egg shell from hard boiled eggs as big as I can in their aviary. The gouldians play with them for hours and break off pieces to eat. I also have a dish with smaller pieces if that's what they want too.
Good luck

debbie276 wrote:That's pretty clever of you.
I put pieces of egg shell from hard boiled eggs as big as I can in their aviary. The gouldians play with them for hours and break off pieces to eat. I also have a dish with smaller pieces if that's what they want too.
Good luck

I've always been afraid that they would swallow a piece to big and it could get stuck in their intestines. I think I read this happening to some people here when I first joined. That's great if you've never had any problems. It makes me a little less paranoid!

I use a rolling pin and put the egg shells in a little baggy, then i roll them over for a while and i get this VERY fine dust. it takes about 5 minutes! I don't have a blender like that though. old fashioned!

birdclaws Brian: Could you explain that bird feeder? It looks like a clay saucer on top of a plastic plant pot. How is it attached?

Brian, I do the same and add it to eggfood or a mix of shaved mineral block, cuttlebone and ground Higgin's Mineral Mix!!!

Brian...where did you get your grinder?

Short answer: It's just a terracotta dish on top of their seed cup.

Long answer:
This was when I first started introducing sprouted seed to my birds. It's just a terracotta dish placed over their familiar seed cup (to help get them to realize its food for them). I would keep it there for 4-5 hours and then remove it so they can access their regular seed. Now that they have learned to love sprouts (or anything on the terracotta dish), I use a clip to hold the dish in place as the base rests on the edge of their seed dish. The terracotta does a good job at keeping stuff dry and helps keep their nails down.

cindy wrote: Brian, I do the same and add it to eggfood or a mix of shaved mineral block, cuttlebone and ground Higgin's Mineral Mix!!!

Brian...where did you get your grinder?

Sounds great, I should try that!


The grinder was a house warming gift, so I'm not sure where it came from. Doing a quick google search looks like they are pretty common to sell for around $30 at the usual department store. I'm surprised its that cheap, I'm quite happy with it.

I have burned through 2 already.....yours looks like it holds more!

I really like the idea of mixing the eggshell powder in with the sprouted seed, I'll have to try that with mine.

I tried grinding up egg shells a few times. When I open the grinder a cloud of egg shell dust came out. What a mess that dust made. Maybe I just ground it up too fine.