Eggs?

[harris]

I'm feeling lazy and don't want to search through all the threads. What are the good/bad points to feeding hard boiled eggs, with shell? I've never introduced eggs until this week and the turtles and torts wents nuts. However both ate only the shell and whites, no yolk. Snack only for the tortoises but what about the protein loving turtles?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Occ. for the more omnivorous torts, (like red-foots, hingebacks, etc.) might be ok, but I'm not sure it'd be good for European or desert torts.

For aquatics like sliders, etc. I'd guess once a week or thereabouts might be ok...

i'm sure others will along to discuss this soon!

 

[Kristina]

I would not feed them unless they were "organically" produced. I raised my own pastured, antibiotic free eggs for years. The eggs that you get from a store are SOOO different....

First, they chickens themselves are rife with hormones and antibiotics. Second, do you know how long they really store those things before they get to a grocery store? They are bleached white, and then put on racks in a warehouse. Sometimes they sit so long that the shells yellow and they have to be bleached again... and again. Yuck, seriously.

I feed hard boiled egg with the shell on to my birds, especially when they are breeding, but I get them from a local farmer, especially if I am feeding the shell. Haven't tried it on my torts or turtles, but not a bad idea.

I won't eat the nasty store bought eggs myself. The flavor is soooo different, homegrown eggs are the BEST. The closest "commercial" brand I have found are the Eggland's Best Cageless Organic eggs. But they cost.

 

[dolfanjack]

I use to feed my box turtles some scrambled eggs with shells and vegetables. Thats the only way I could get them to eat their veggies. I also think egg whites would be healthier.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

I would not feed them unless they were "organically" produced. I raised my own pastured, antibiotic free eggs for years. The eggs that you get from a store are SOOO different....

They are bleached white, and then put on racks in a warehouse. Sometimes they sit so long that the shells yellow and they have to be bleached again... and again. Yuck, seriously.

Humm, I don't think I've ever heard that. Where did you hear about the eggs being bleached? I had a little mixed flock of 13 chickens growing up that laid brown, green, blue(sometimes) and white eggs. I just always assumed the commercial chickens were the white egg variety.

 

[Kristina]

Yes, the white eggs are already white. But they are also very dirty by the time they get to the packing plant. The bleaching is initially done to clean them - the re-bleaching is done to re-whiten them.

My chickens also laid brown, green, blue, pink, and white eggs. I would also sometimes feed specific foods, like beer, beets, or blueberries, to make more intensely colored eggs

The information was given to me by a member of my husband's family that worked in said warehouse.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Yes, the white eggs are already white. But they are also very dirty by the time they get to the packing plant. The bleaching is initially done to clean them - the re-bleaching is done to re-whiten them.

My chickens also laid brown, green, blue, pink, and white eggs. I would also sometimes feed specific foods, like beer, beets, or blueberries, to make more intensely colored eggs

The information was given to me by a member of my husband's family that worked in said warehouse.

Blueberries to make more intensely colored eggs!?!?! Dangit! I wish I'd thought of that when i was kid. That sounds pretty cool.

I have an uncle whose parents raise chickens for Tyson in KY. Now I have a cool chicken fact I can bring up next time I see him. I wonder if they process the eggs on the farm or send them out to a packing plant for processing.