Burnt my eggshells!

[sheena]

Yesterday I spent ages watching Betty munching her way through an oyster shell- I kept wanting to get her to put her foot on it to keep it still whist she pecked at it!!!She ate quite a bit of it too!!!

You actually gave them a proper oyster shell, and not the ground up stuff?

Never thought of that, I can't stand oysters but i'd happily buy a couple if it meant the girl's can eat them that way. Do you have to bake them too?

[di]

I usually pop mine in the oven once I've finished cooking...that way if I forget they're there they don't burn...unless of course I forget right up to next time I put the oven on!

[Nicos]

Real shells- minus the contents of course!!!

I threw a whole pile of them under a tree last summer- in direct sunlight- so I suppose after washing them they would have been bleached by the sun???

Not given them fresh ones...perhaps might be good to boil them for 10 mins maybe????

Yup they just nibble off the edges...it gives them something to do apart from scratching about too!

[Crundy]

Now that's a cool idea. A good excuse to munch some oysters as well :-)

So would it be best to scrub the oysters, eat them, wash the shells thoroughly and then just give them as is, or is it a good idea to roast them and / or smash them up a bit with a hammer?

[Nicos]

They can easily snap off bits with a bit of effort- I'd boil them I think to remove any salt and kill off any bugs.- they don't really need crushing- but I'd give them as an extra as well as in grit form -just for something to do really.

[sheena]

I usually pop mine in the oven once I've finished cooking...that way if I forget they're there they don't burn...unless of course I forget right up to next time I put the oven on!

I usually do that with the yorkshire puds!

It's only when I open the oven maybe 2 days later that I find them
Have now stopped bothering buying them, cos we never get to eat them when they left in the oven.

[Llamas]

When we moved in to our cottage we inherited a small aga. I was terrified of it (what! - you mean it's Always on?!) at first but after roasting shells a few time I came to value its ability to contain the smell of forgotten egg shells.

I love smashing them too!