Aussie Finch Forum

Tried it once for a lot longer than 2 minutes ...house smelt like " bottom burps " for hours.

Yea

The reason i bake them is that the temp is higher 180C+ compared to 100c which is boiling temp.
But the real reason is when you bake them they become brittle and the birds seem to demolish them more easily.
I have never been able to understand why Gouldians go directly down to a half shell so quickly.

I don't think it really matters how you cook them, so long as you kill all the bugs. If you boil the eggs you should do so for at least 10 minutes. Microwaving is fine too and is quicker; and as Eorix has pointed out the higher, drier conditions in the oven help make the shells easier for the birds to eat.

ie there are several techniques you can use- the choice comes down to personal preferance.

My Uncle up in QLD who has bred all the varieties you can think of (well not all) his name is Phil Regan he has written a few articles for the Queensland Finch Society reckons he has been microwaving since he has owned a microwave and has no problem, So I have been doing the same......I do mine for about 5 min.

I bake mine in the oven at 180c for 20 minutes and place the half shells in the grit and charcoal container, they must like it as it all disappears

What about oyster shells? Does anyone boil/microwave/bake them and crush them? if so, how long for?

Not a lot of oysters out here but I imagine they would be good for the birds .

If they are wet in the bag and smell of the sea then I tend to rinse them (fine sieve and running water)then dry them well- either ina microwave, in the oven or spread flat on a tray and left to bake in the summer sun.

Being a marine product they can become contaminated easily by bacteria etc which under certain circumstances can be disastrous- I'd rather not take the risk of feeding it as is.

If it's dry in the bag, then I often don't worry.

Think the egg eating spreads from a problem that pheasant people had years ago when feeding hard boiled eggs simply cut in half and presented to the birds - several birds associated the egg shape with their own eggs and started eating them.........once they removed those birds and mashed the H-B egg (shell & all) they were OK.

Only problem with egg shells is that they are porous......which, obviously they have to be for the embryo to develop, but that leads to a problem once you place the egg shell into a hot/wet humid environment (like an aviary in warm climes) and those pores start to act as they should - doesn't matter what you do to them beforehand its what happens after that that's the problem!!!
They go in clean but a pore is a pore - a cavern waiting for summat to grow in it!!!!

Learned that from Ostrich farmers down here that, when the birds begin laying, have a very few hours to actually harvest the eggs before bacteria start to affect the eggs in the field - the wet, damp ground causes bacterial problems big time - in some cases they have to monitor the laying birds all night in order not to lose eggs to bacteria. The porous nature of the egg shell is great but not when u throw in bacterial growth!!

The reason many top breeders don't use them any more is again related to the fact that they also don't use plastic or non-glassed earthenware bowls for water anymore - they all have pores which nasty "things" luv to live in!!!!
Giardia and cochlosoma to name but 2 .............throw in hot, humid weather and u have a problem!!
And we all know with finches that if u can avoid a problem - DO IT!!!!

2 cents from the land down under the land downunder.