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egg shell how and when to give it?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:10 pm
by rkn
Hi all,

been out of town and catching up on the forum. Anyway I need advice on egg shell. exactly what is it and where do you buy it? Or is this actual peels from a hard boiled egg? If so do you crush it up for them?

thanks for your help!

rita

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 8:16 pm
by lyderbug
Just save the egg shells that you use. You should boil them for a bit or you can use the hard boiled egg shell. Yes, crush it up real fine. Usually you can sprinkle it on their food.

As far as when to give it to them...try to do it regularly. Not necessarily every day. If you don't eat eggs all that oftem you want to be sure to give the females a good dose when they're laying eggs.

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:32 am
by williep
I usually microwave mine for 3 minutes to ensure all bacteria is killed. It is easy to crush them in a plastic bag, you can use a cake roller or in my case I just use a wine bottle to roll them fairly fine.

I include mine in my wet food mix and then also offer some alone as a "free choice" so the birds can eat it whenever they feel like.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:05 am
by jamezyboo21
I gave me zebra finches eggshell for the first time todayand they tore it up. i came back about 10 minutes later and they had already eaten all of it.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:17 pm
by rkn
Well today is their first taste of home egg sheel. I am hoping I did this right. I did soak the shells for about 20minutes in pretty hot water to clean them up a bit. Does it hurt if you don't soak them and just dry them out and feed?

Thansk,

Rita

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:22 pm
by jamezyboo21
i thinking i did this right. i didnt use the blender, i just put both eggs still in shell and just crushed it in a ziplock bag and just gave it to them like that, they seemed to like it since they ate it all up.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:29 pm
by rkn
You mean you can just give them the actual raw egg and not just the shells? am confused...

thanks,
rkn

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:32 pm
by jamezyboo21
No no.... :lol: i boiled it first. i heard you can never give them raw eggs there is something in raw eggs can can make them sick. i boiled it first then crushed it in a ziplock bag, sorry for the confusion.

Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:54 am
by williep
There is a great and helpful recipe on the FIC on how to prepare an egg mix which really works well. You can both try it out.

http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/egg_mixes ... _foods.php

Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:33 am
by jamezyboo21
Thank for the info. ima try to do that today.

Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 1:26 am
by atarasi
I don't crush mine up....they seem to enjoy it in larger pieces, although I do remove the skin that's between the albumin and shell.

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:03 am
by rkn
Is it ok to leave the skin on? I tried again to give mine some and so far they are not going for it. This batch i left the skin on after soaking the shells in HOT but not boiling water for like 20minutes (we have one of those water cool/hot things in our home and is gives water hot enough for coffee but not boiling).

are there just some birds that don't like the shells? Mines could care less so either am doing it wrong or they are not interested. This time did crush them up with a rolling pin so should have helped some.

rkn

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 3:19 pm
by B CAMP
I just put mine in microwave for about three or five min.let cool then put in plastic bag and beat with the back of large spoon until they are small pcs. and then I put on top of soft food , I also put into birdy bread when i make it .I also mix it in with oyster shell so they can eat when they want and they do eat it often Bcamp

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 7:57 pm
by rkn
Ok call me a dinosaur but I don't have a microwave, nor a dish washer by choice. lol But do you think leaving that skin on will hurt them after soaking in very hot water for 20 minutes?

So far none of mine have tried the second batch of egg shell so am not impressed buy all the effort on my end to make them happy...is why I am trying to figure out is my preparation wrong or they just lack interest.

thnaks,
Rita

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:25 pm
by B CAMP
I dont know about the boiling water,I dont worry about the skin? you might want to put shells on cookie sheet and put in oven for15 min or so
then cool and break up
My birds all seem to eat shells,leave in for while they will try them
BCAMP