Egg shells. good or bad?

[My_3_birdies]

Ive been reading that giving budgies (and other pet birds) egg shells is a good source of calcium. Is that true? If so, how should i give it to them? Ive read that some cook the egg and shell together and feed that to them and others that just microwave the empty shells and put those in the cage. Any suggestions on how to serve them? Also how often should i mist or place a bath in their cage? Sorry so many questions, I just want to make sure I give them proper care.
Oh, one more. Can they have watermellon? And what parts? Inside red, white, or outer part?

[boomer girl]

I wash the egg first really good, then boil it and shred up the egg and crush the shell into tiny pieces and mix it all together and serve it that way. It was the best way I found to serve it here and the birds I have had here loved it. The eggs and shell are great for our fids.

[My_3_birdies]

Ok. So hard boiled then. Thank you Ill have to try it and see how my birds like it.

[Marrie]

Yes shells are great calcium. Be sure to WASH the shells REALLY well before you cook any egg for your birds, as it can have germs/bacteria on the shell. You can crush them up and cook them into bird breads etc as well if your birds don't like the egg.

[My_3_birdies]

Bird bread sounds very interesting. Ill have to look up some recipies

[Paloma]

Our vet recommended over cooking the eggs a bit (to make SURE everything is killed off). I do a crappy job peeling eggs for the birds, but I throw the shells (and a good chunk of egg) in the food processor then add it to the rest of the egg. Twitter LOVES scrambled eggs, I stopped feeding those with the shells - just don't trust myself to cook those shells enough.

I've read that watermelon is OK, but it didn't mention which part. I assume the red part, but haven't seen anything about the seeds.

[boomer girl]

Mango my sisters amazon loves scrambled eggs. I was paronoid about not boiling the egg long enough to so I use to boil them it least 25 minutes and boomer never minded them being a bit rubber like. That is a great idea using the food processor to mix them all together and I will have to try it for the next bird I get to bird sit here.