Dried eggshells

[Gouldian lover]

Somewhere I read about giving dried eggshells to caged birds and they eat them "like potato chips". I would love to know how you dry an eggshell but cannot find the information again.

[MarlonLionheart]

After I have my delicious eggs in the morning, I take the shells and wash them as clean as possible then microwave it in a bowl of water to sterilize it. By the time they come out of the hot water it'll dry off because they are so hot. I give them whole to my birds, but you can crush them too...I prefer whole cause it's playful for the birds to chip away at them

[paul-inAZ]

I don't wash mine out first -any bits of adherent egg white is extra protein.
Air dry on the counter top or in a microwave. They can then be crushed by hand.
Or~ I usually use one of those cheap coffee grinders to create small chips.
Birds will play with and sometimes eat bits off whole shells but I think crushed shells are a more effective way to get them their calcium.

[lovezebs]

Gouldian lover

My birdlings, eat a lot of hard boiled eggs. I just offer them the shells on the side (just air dried).

I also save some of these shells and crush them into tiny bits, which I then mix into my bird grit mixture, together with oyster shell, grated Cuttle bone, grated mineral block, grated iodine block, bird charcoal, and bird clay. All of my species love this mix, as they get to pick and choose what they need and want.

[Gouldian lover]

Thank you all for the info. I'm on my way to the microwave right now. I'll try one piece without crushing and one piece crushed and see what happens.

[Sally]

I set the egg shells from my breakfast on a paper plate and microwave them for 3 minutes on high. They come out nice and crisp and crumble easily. When I make egg food, I mash the hardboiled eggs shell and all.

[Malti]

I cook them in the oven - whilst cooking I just put them in aa small dish and find a bit of space.

[Haider]

I cook mine in the oven for 30 min until golden and they love it......

[debbie276]

I find that if I microwave or bake the shells they are a LOT drier and brittle then if I just offer them from a hard boiled egg. I think I would grind the microwaved and baked ones rather then offer large pieces in fear of them being too sharp and possibly causing damage to the crop.
Has anyone else noticed this?

[Babs _Owner]

debbie276

I've never tried microwaving them. I just peel them off the egg from the fridge, put them in a bowl and crush them up a bit. Getting some my finches to eat the egg portion has been a task, but oh boy, do they all love the shell!

Its usually gone in minutes. I do notice a lot on the floor of the cage though, maybe I should crush it up a bit more.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one worried about sharp edges, heck, I was scared at first letting them have it without drying it out due to the jagged edges.

[SocietyBird]

I read somewhere that it's important to bake the shells to make sure all harmful bacteria is eradicated... so I've always taken the shells off boiled eggs and baked them for 30 minutes or so, then grind it up into a powder and mix with their food for extra calcium. Is it necessary to bake them after boiling???

[paul-inAZ]

If you are boiling eggs the shell and underlying white has already been well cooked so further baking seems unnecessary.
A hard boiled egg has no living salmonella in it.

When boiling eggs I usually throw the eggshells back into the boiling water to let them cook a few minutes more. Likely overkill but its easy to do.

[debbie276]

I never cook or nuke after they are boiled. I leave them in big pieces and the birds break off what they want. I find that if you nuke or bake the shells they are much more brittle and sharp.

[SocietyBird]

Perfect! I won't be 'double cooking' my egg shells from now on.
Thanks so much. Leaving the shells in bigger pieces sounds like more fun for the birds too!

[Lucille]

Do you store extra baked/nuked shells in the refrigerator or just in the pantry?