Egg shells and freshness

[tinytippytoes]

So last night I'm boiling eggs and I'm throwing out the shells. I was wondering if you could freeze the egg shells and how long would it stay "fresh"?

[Deleted]

if the shells were boiled I think it would be the same as cooking bones....which is a no no...not sure you can feed eggshells that come off of hardboiled eggs...

[tinytippytoes]

I didn't even think of that! Ok so what if I had an egg omlet can I freeze the shell then?

[Deleted]

If the eggshells were boiled, they're a no-go. I'm not exactly sure how the eggshell would stay "fresh." The compound in eggshell is mostly calcium carbonate, which is stable at room temp (like most salts), so I don't think much deterioration would occur if you just left them out, or in the fridge even.

[tinytippytoes]

Except for eating eggs I don't know much about them. now here on HF I'll be learning about those things!

[Sherry]

I just keep mine in the fridge. Haven't had a problem with them being stale, at least not from the fuzzies point of view

[tinytippytoes]

Thanks Sherry I thought I could start early with that so less to do when I get my ferts.

[darlene]

I remembered reading about Bob Church recommended boiling egg shells,so I emailed Kim (you all may remember Kim and others had a meet up with Bob) and asked her about it and this is her response

"Yes, Bob Church told us that boiling the shells allows the calcium to be more available to the ferret's system. My guys get the shells from my hard boiled eggs. I pulverize the shells with a spoon then beat in a raw egg. It's their sunday treat."

I've been boiling my eggshells ever since.

[tinytippytoes]

Thanks for letting me know that!!! So tomorow I start saving those those shells.

[Sherry]

Really? I was always under the impression it was along the line of cooking bone. Thanks for that, Darlene!

[Deleted]

Feb 15, 2011 20:43:12 GMT -5 Sherry said:

Really? I was always under the impression it was along the line of cooking bone. Thanks for that, Darlene!

I was too! Thanks for sharing that!

[darlene]

You're welcome

[Deleted]

Boiling bones softens them. You can boil a bones to the point where you can crush it with your fingers. (It does take a long time). In fact, I recommend simmering/softening bones if ferrets are refusing to eat bone.

The problem is DRY COOKING, which hardens bones/shells.

If you're boiling bones and the water evaporates such that part of the bone is exposed to air during the cooking process, the bones become risky (possibly dangerous) to feed unless the bones were very already extremely soft (crumbly) when the water went dry.

I've never boiled eggshells for ferrets. I don't know if they become soft . I recommend grinding them in any case since they do tend to be sharp. (like that tortilla chip that didn't get chewed up enough )

One thing I would not recommend is dry cooking egg shells - even if they will be ground.

ALso, I just rinse my egg hells set them, allow them to air-dry on paper towels and toss them in a covered plastic container in the fridge. When I get a handful of them or need some for feeding I grind them in a small food processor. I do not make a fine powder from them because I use them during shedding to help move fur through the ferrets system, or I use them for occasional bouts of loose stool. O also use them when I collect as "bone" because I collect trimmings from cuts of meat and use the egg shell as "bone" that can be fed with trimmings and organ meats. AGAIN, egg shells are NOT a substitute for real bone. However, the "scrap meals" are a small part of my ferrets' diet, so it's OK to use the shells as a calcium source when the meal is occasional.

-jennifer