Raw egg shells, and other flying adventures

We have an 11 week old baby Eckie, Max. He had his first flight a week ago along the length of the house and is growing stronger and learning better control.

I've read here it is important for them to learn how to fly before you clip their wings. How long should you wait? (We are not definite on the wing clipping though... his wings are so pretty is seems a shame to clip them... however we do have large plate glass windows and he learnt the hard way that windows are solid. I don't want him to break his neck).

He has also knocked over a (fortunately lukewarm) cup of tea. So my husband takes him out of the room while I'm cooking dinner and Max naps on him while they watch the news

He flew to our kitchen bench today during breakfast. I was making scrambled eggs and had a pile of empty egg shells in the box. He went to town on the eggs shells! Just loved them! Now I'm assuming uncooked eggs shells are ok? As they wouldn't get cooked egg shell in the wild I assume. And is there a limit to how much egg shell they should have?
He is mostly fully weaned although we offer some Neocare each day and he may have a spoon or two, or refuse it.

Thank you

Do you guys have to refrigerate your eggs, like we do in the states?

In the E.U., the shells aren’t washed, and they have a coating which prevents bacteria from growing inside the egg. However, bacteria can grow on the shell itself because they’re not refrigerated.

American (and other eggs) are seriously cleaned at the processor, and since refrigerated, my guess is the raw shell is safer.

Who knows how they do it down under? For all I know the shell is in the inside and the egg is on the outside, he he.

Kidding aside, egg shells are a good source of calcium for growing bones and feathers. But not too much. We give our 5 yr old amazon Salty a mashed up shell like once a month sprinkled on his chop. An American, sanitized, clean on the outside, always refrigerated egg. And you want to limit the kinds of veggies that inhibit calcium uptake, like spinach, collard greens, sweet potatoes, rhubarb, and beans. Foods with high oxalic acid content. Once in a while is fine, not a steady diet of them tho.

Your Ekkie is so cute!

Ira7 said:

Do you guys have to refrigerate your eggs, like we do in the states?

In the E.U., the shells aren’t washed, and they have a coating which prevents bacteria from growing inside the egg. However, bacteria can grow on the shell itself because they’re not refrigerated.

American (and other eggs) are seriously cleaned at the processor, and since refrigerated, my guess is the raw shell is safer.

Click to expand...

Yes we usually keep eggs refrigerated too. He has only had boiled egg previously so felt it best to double check

wrench13 said:

Who knows how they do it down under? For all I know the shell is in the inside and the egg is on the outside, he he.

Kidding aside, egg shells are a good source of calcium for growing bones and feathers. But not too much. We give our 5 yr old amazon Salty a mashed up shell like once a month sprinkled on his chop. An American, sanitized, clean on the outside, always refrigerated egg. And you want to limit the kinds of veggies that inhibit calcium uptake, like spinach, collard greens, sweet potatoes, rhubarb, and beans. Foods with high oxalic acid content. Once in a while is fine, not a steady diet of them tho.

Your Ekkie is so cute!

Click to expand...

Yikes, how much is too much? We've got beans and sweet potato in his basic chop mix each day (He loves beans, corn, peas). Although he's not a huge eater - yet. What's in the picture is a good example of his veggie mix. He started on it before I had added any grains or fruit. This is like feeding toddlers again haha!

You don't have to worry overmuch about too much egg shell. The worry is usually more about giving too much egg, itself. I sprinkle eggshell pieces in my birds' chop anytime anyone in the house has a boiled egg. If he really loves it that much, my only real concern would be not to put so much in his food that he fills up on that and winds up not eating enough of the other foods in his plate. (Pretty much the same thought behind why I only provide one type of fruit per chop batch. Given the choice, they'd eat all fruits and no veggies.

As for the safety of raw eggshells, I'm not certain. I've only ever given mine the shells from boiled eggs.

You also mention being undecided about clipping. Ultimately, you'll do what you, as the parront, decides is safest for your little guy.

That said, my birds are fully flighted. The dangers of fully flighted birds can definitely be minimized, especially in a baby bird, and I find the payoff to be well worth it.

To start, I took them from room to room, introducing them to every single mirrored surface or window and having them tap their beaks against them. After doing this repeatedly, they came to understand that they cannot fly through them.

Also, you'll want to establish stations throughout your home. Reliable places for your bird to perch. This is important because if your bird startles, he'll fly away from the perceived danger and look for a place to touch down. The easier it is for him to locate one, the less prone he will be to panic. And as flying becomes a regular thing, you'll notice that he will choose certain preferred places to land before plotting out their next maneuver. knowing they have several options in this regard raises their confidence significantly.

On my main floor, my birds have their cages, two bird stands, a training perch and all the railings throughout my home. And Jolly (they're both fully flighted, but only Jolly actually takes advantage of it) flies through my house without any issues. He is fully aware of every window and mirror, and adjusts accordingly.

Other dangers have to be handled by you, such as ceiling fans and open windows/doors. For my part, I simply got out of the habit of using my ceiling fan at all. Just to be sure I didn't have a forgetful moment while he was out. And we have rigid protocols in place for the opening and closing of doors and windows. Basically, we need training every bit as much as our birds do. Lol!

Also, never have a flighted bird out while cooking with the external burners, and never leave the doors to your bathrooms open. Flying into an open toilet can be dangerous.

Here's a video on flighted birds in the home that might be helpful: [ame="https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM"]YouTube[/ame]

After reading your comment regarding egg shells, I tried with KyKy, and she looked, tasted, looked again and chomp! Seems to dig them! So funny! Thanks for the info

Cheers Shan


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I cook the eggshells on a tray in the oven until they turn slightly brown, which makes them more crunchy for my birds

Eggs shells gotta be a natural source of calcium - should we worry about too much? Hypercalcemia?


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I don’t give my YNA shell. Only hard boiled every other week, and I give him two.

Sometimes he just wants the white, sometimes the yolk, but lately...he likes them equally.

Beautiful boy you got there!


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Personal opinion... don't EVER clip his wings!

My approach... why not spend the time with target/trick training and teach him how to recall. This way you don't have to worry about him getting outside, one of the reasons I'm all for free-flight

cneuhauser said:

Personal opinion... don't EVER clip his wings!

My approach... why not spend the time with target/trick training and teach him how to recall. This way you don't have to worry about him getting outside, one of the reasons I'm all for free-flight

Click to expand...

I'm all for not clipping and recall training, no doubt, but remember that doesn't remove all concerns about your bird getting outside. My birds are 100% recall trained, but while I know that such training increases the chances of their safe return, I recognize that if they get startled badly enough they may fly away and lose all track of where I am.

Not to mention the danger of predators. (Heck, the main reason I gave up on the possibility of free flying my ekkies was because of the staggering number of raptors that hang out around where I live.)