Feeding eggshells

kylith

I give Finn an egg on his dinner the odd day and I was wondering was there any reason not to throw the shell in there as well. I know wild canids eat eggs so I can't see why there'd be a problem.

What do ye think? Eggshell: yay or nay.

VonVix

I have heard of it given before, but usually it's crushed first. No idea on the nutritional value of it however.

SillyMangoX

I know powdered eggshells are often used as replacement for bones in the raw diet for cats if they're being fussy and won't eat bones, but I don't know about giving it whole. I'd be worried about how sharp they are but then dogs are better at coping with those things than we are!

DBB

I'd have no issue feeding eggshells. My dogs have been eating them for years... They especially like the membrane inside the shell!

aonb

Eggshells contain calcium, and magnesium. I feed them dried and crushed to my hens. Not sure if I read somewhere dogs cant digest eggshells, and to crush the shells before feeding...

tk123

Noooooooooooooooooooooo I just can't give them - It freaks me out if I get a bit of shell in my cooked eggs!

hairyslug

How do you serve it, the egg and she'll, just whisk it up and go or mix it in with regular food

kylith

hairyslug wrote: »

How do you serve it, the egg and she'll, just whisk it up and go or mix it in with regular food

I usually crack the egg in his dry food and discard the shell but yesterday I put it in whole out of curiosity. He took it out and carried it to bed where he licked it for a while. Then he decided to bat it around the living room a bit. After a while it cracked and he was delighted to discover his new toy had food in it so he smashed it completely then licked up the goo and crunched up the shell.

Bells21

From what I've heard egg shell ground up to a fine powder is added to dogs food as a source of calcium. I've seen others add it to their raw fed dog's food if they're in need of a bit more calcium than what they get from bones.

Choc Chip

I sometimes feed them just for the amusement factor - little one bites straight into it, cracks it open, licks up the sticky goodness (getting it all over his beard in a very fashionable egg hair wash) and then crunches up the shell. All the while looking very serious.

Big black dog wanders around carrying the unbroken egg. She might lie down for a while and lick it. Give it a good sniff. Maybe drop it on the ground (hasn't quite realised that dropping it on the grass is different to dropping it on the patio). Generally takes about 10 times as long to get into the egg than little dog as she'd rather not just bite into it.

I'm not sure how digestible they are whole though - there is a good bit of shell passes through undigested.

Luckily we don't intend on getting hens!

kathleen37

I'm guessing Finn is a dog? (cats shouldn't be given raw egg white - they are ok with egg yolk) What about giving him whole boiled egg? I would be a tad nervous about anyone having raw egg due to the salmonella risk. Egg shell is no problem for dogs.