FINCHforum

I know many members use egg shell, mineral grit, etc. But there are also many who do not know the pros of using it! It is a great source of calcium to your birds, especially laying and breeding hens who lose alot of calcium while laying.

First step, eat alot of eggs! Which living in a family of 7, is not really a problem for me. We go through alot of eggs.

I take all my eggshells, and put them in the empty sink, turn the water up completely hot, and hosse down the shells (this is to get the stick egg white out left behind)

I then put them into a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes.

All the extra gooey stuff that did not come out floats to the top of the water, and is pulled out.

From their the shells are poored into a strainer.

I then lay out paper towels on the kitchen window sill, and let them dry for atleast 12 hours in the sun.

The stuff left inside should all be gone, but if it is not it dries like paper in the sun.

I keep my eggs shells ina freezer bag and sandwich bags are thin and I have had the eggshells cut them.

I poor the whole eggshells into te big, zip it shut, and with the back of a spoon take out all my frustrations on the eggshells inside the bag works great with the giant serving spoons.

Any largepieces are crunched up to beak sized pieces!!!!
Abba mineral grit or the off brand grit I buy from the local petstore is also poored in with the eggshells.

Shake it up and ready to serve! Now it sounds long, but it is not. And if I hadn't lost my camera charger, I would have tooken pictures!

Please share how you prepare yours!!!!

*In addition to the calcium I provide above, my birds all get cuttlebone, (which I am thinking about smashing into the eggshell mix) and my cages are infront of my windows, which cover an entire wall in my room.

Hi . This is what I do with my egg shells .
After boiling my eggs for 15 mins I de shell them , let them dry on the windowcill , pop them into microwave for 3 mins full power ( kills any trace of salmonella ) , smash them into tiny pieces and add them back into my eggfood of bread , biscuit , cous cous , honey , eggs and a very small amount of spiriulina ( seaweed extract ) I sometimes also add some green beans .
I also sometimes mix this with canary CeDe eggfood depending on what bird's im feeding
This work's very well for me
I also offer some grit in small pot's in cage's and cuttlefish ad lib .
Hope this help's you .
Regards , Mick M.

Oh, thank you for this post, I am always having trouble removing the white membrane from the shell, I never thought of boiling it

Personally I use the shells off the boiled eggs that I eat, I grind them like powder and mix them with the grit which I have in a small dish on the side of the cage. Cutlebone never worked for me as my little zebras did not seem to be interested and it was too hard for their little beaks anyway.

Dante....I have never removed the membrane from my hard boiled egg shells. I just let them dry out real good and then grind them all up. Is there some danger in leaving the membrane on the shell?

I have never in over 10 years removed the membrane so I would say there is NO harm in leaving the egg in tact. I feed both tiny pieces of egg shells and huge, almost complete halves of egg shell, the birds eat both for me. They really enjoy picking off pieces of the large shells, it gives them entertainment for a good while.

debbie276 wrote: I have never in over 10 years removed the membrane so I would say there is NO harm in leaving the egg in tact. I feed both tiny pieces of egg shells and huge, almost complete halves of egg shell, the birds eat both for me. They really enjoy picking off pieces of the large shells, it gives them entertainment for a good while.

I do the same


Thanks for sharing Dante

FeatherHarp wrote: Dante....I have never removed the membrane from my hard boiled egg shells. I just let them dry out real good and then grind them all up. Is there some danger in leaving the membrane on the shell?

Nope, no danger. But most of the eggshells I use are NOT from hard-boiled eggs, they are from eggs from breakfast, so they usually have some stuff left in them. I boil them to make sure they are sanitary and when they are boiled everything inside comes out.

Mick M. wrote: Hi . This is what I do with my egg shells .
After boiling my eggs for 15 mins I de shell them , let them dry on the windowcill , pop them into microwave for 3 mins full power ( kills any trace of salmonella ) , smash them into tiny pieces and add them back into my eggfood of bread , biscuit , cous cous , honey , eggs and a very small amount of spiriulina ( seaweed extract ) I sometimes also add some green beans .
I also sometimes mix this with canary CeDe eggfood depending on what bird's im feeding
This work's very well for me
I also offer some grit in small pot's in cage's and cuttlefish ad lib .
Hope this help's you .
Regards , Mick M.

That is how I do it as well, or if I'm using shells from left over cooking (eggs don't last long in our kitchen either Dante!) I rinse the shells in hot water to get rid of any egg white goo before drying and microwaving them. If I do it just right the shells will look and feel just like "Hatched!" from Twin Beaks Aviary.

The membrane has always bothered me so I find myself sometimes picking it apart from the shells. I will have to try boiling next time! Thank you for sharing

For information purposes: I have been using Ioford (and Dufo Plus) for almost 5 years now with nothing but the best results. I feed the shells to my Finches in its own treat cup or mixed with an egg soft from LGF (Mircale Meal). I still make my own bread, biscuits and soft food but they always swarm the Miracle Meal and it is great for them and their offspring so I keep it as part of their regular diet.

I make eggbread.

2 cups corn meal
12 eggs, including the shells (ground into small bits)
3-4 tablespoons of Kaytee Handfeeding Formula (optional)

Mix well. Bake in a well-greased 13x9" pan at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done. Grate into small bits, and freeze the extra portions in individual baggies for later. If it gets all frozen together, you can "hammer" it with the back of a spoon to break it up.

It can be left out for several hours without worrying about spoilage. It thaws quickly, but the birds don't seem to care if it's still cold when I give it to them. They dive right in, sometimes before I even get my hand off the food cup!

I make a version without the eggshells for birds that are feeding new hatchlings, just in case the eggshells get transferred to the youngsters and possibly cause an impaction. I don't know if that's even possible since the parents bite off tiny bits of the shells rather than big chunks, but I offer them liquid calcium and the usual cuttlebones instead ... just in case. They seem to LOVE feeding the eggbread to the babies, packing their little crops FULL! Once the chicks are bigger (5-7 days or so), I feed the parents the regular eggbread.

It was suggested to me to grind the egg shells in a coffee grinder. I tried it ... once. The coffee grinder turns the egg shells into a FINE powder. When I opened the grinder a cloud of fine egg shells came out. The coffee grinder did its job too well.

I use a motar and pesstle to grind my egg shells.
I stop when the pieces look small enough.

H
If they are eating the cuttlebone, then that is good enough.
They eat the egg shell when they feel they need more calcium, like just before laying eggs.

It never hurts to have multiple sources of calcium, eventually they should try new things.
good luck

I agree. I supply my birds with HB egg and shells, cuttlebone, and oyster shells daily.