Aussie Finch Forum

Hi,

I was wondering if you guys have a method for feeding egg shells to Finches; should they be baked, boiled or served raw? The internet is practically divided over this, some say it’s unhealthy to serve raw but others say that baked is too ‘artificial’ for them. What is a method that will work?

Thanks

The general idea is to feed a simple readily available source of calcium. Baked,boiled and even microwaved of which i prefer the latter. The reason for those three actions is to kill bacteria that grows on raw egg shells that could be harmful to your finches. The second reason is that heating egg shells makes them a lot more brittle and easier for the birds to consume. It is a good idea to wash the egg shells to get rid of any albion for oven or microwave heating as this burns and can make a bad smell in your house but in saying that so can the egg shells if they are overheated and become unpalatable but boiling wont do this so probably the best way but you will need to let them dry out before feeding as the moisture can attract bacteria again.

Never feed raw eggs or chicken to any animal because they can carry drug resistant bacteria.

If you want to feed egg shell to birds, boil the egg for 10 minutes, peel the shell off and crush it up and put in cage with birds. Get a cup of cornflakes and put them in a paper or plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Put the boiled egg in a bowl and use a fork to crush it up. Mix the cornflakes and boiled egg and put in cage for birds to eat.

You can also go to the beach and find cuttlebone on the sand and use that for your birds.

I microwave them on high for a couple of minutes. Don't want to take any chances with bacteria.

Ok, thanks!

i boil the eggs for 10 min put the shells in a container then i place them in the sun for a day and crush them up for the finches to eat, the eggs are mixed with egg and biscuit, madera cake, crushed oats, and then fed to the birds using a fresh mix every day during the breeding season. cheers

Like Craig, I wash off the albumin, microwave on high for a couple of minutes (they should be hot and dry, not brown and scorched) , break them into bits and place in the aviaries. The finches love it

Cheers
Brett

I prefer to put them on a tray with baking paper in the oven at about 180 degrees until the edges of the eggs shell start to go brown
Thanks
Noah Till

I rip out the inside skin, put it on a plate with a piece of paper towel under them and microwave it on high for two minutes

I sprinkle the moist new egg shells with salt. This dries and sterilisers them and salt good for the birds. When I have I have several dozen, then bake them in the oven (150 or so) for 20 mins. I then put them in a mini food processor (Magic Bullet) which makes a very fine grit, almost powder. I then store this in a screw top plastic or glass jar. Recycle, Reduce, Reuse and finches love it.

You can get heaps of fresh egg shells from Bunnings clubs BbQ’s or Rugby / cricket club BBQ.