How To Easily Make Eggshell Calcium Powder For Dogs

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Homemade eggshell powder is a great and safe way to provide natural calcium carbonate to dogs enjoying freshly made raw and cooked diets.

Calcium is an essential material that dogs need not only for healthy bones and teeth - but also for cardiovascular health, muscle building / function, and a healthy nervous system.

Eggshells are loaded with calcium carbonate and making eggshell powder is easy and the only additional equipment you may need is a coffee bean grinder.

Benefits of Eggshell Powder For Dogs

The shells of eggs are the perfect natural source of calcium carbonate. And according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) - is a great source of naturally-derived calcium for both humans and animals.

I always try to provide my pups with essential vitamins and minerals from natural sources whenever possible. 

Natural vitamins and minerals are often accompanied with other nutrients, enzymes, and co-factors that can facilitate absorption and utilization in the body.

And because of this, bioavailability of the vitamins may be increased leading to better absorption.

Calcium from eggshells also have less toxic metals like lead, aluminum, cadmium and mercury that are found in other natural sources such as oyster shells

And because most of us enjoy incorporating eggs into our diets, it’s a great way to put the  shells that we normally throw away to good use.

How To Make Eggshell Powder For Dogs

1. Boil eggs, remove shells when cooled
2. Save and store eggshells in the fridge if not enough to make a batch
3. Place smashed eggshells on a cookie sheet and bake at @225 degrees for roughly 15 minutes (do not burn!)
4. Let cool
5. Grind eggshells in a coffee grinder until powder is very fine
6. Store in container in fridge and use when needed
   
   

The best way to make eggshell powder is to save the shells from eggs that you boil due to the fact that boiling will kill off potential pathogens on the eggshells.

Ideally, it’s best to use organic, free-range chicken eggs because commercially processed eggs contains more chemicals such as propylene glycol that is used during the cleaning process.

You can save and store the eggshell in the fridge until you have enough to make a batch of eggshell powder.

 I usually make powder when I have at least a dozen or more eggshells. 

My Shiba Inus are all around 20 or so pounds which means they would require roughly a little more than half an eggshell per day, per dog. Larger dogs will require more eggshells.

Once you have enough eggshells, smash them up a bit and place on a cookie sheet. Bake it in an oven or convection oven on low heat (around 225 degrees F) for about 15 minutes. Be sure not to burn the shells

After the eggshells cool down, place the shells in a coffee grinder and grind until the shells turn into a fine and “airy” powder.

Since coffee is not good for dogs, I use a designated grinder used only for eggshell powder. If you do use a grinder that also grinds coffee beans just make sure to clean it thoroughly before using it to grind eggshells.

And that’s about it.

You can now store it in a container in the fridge and use when needed.

How Much Eggshell Powder To Give Your Dog?

According to the National Research Council or NRC, healthy adult dogs require 50 mg of calcium per kg of body weight at a minimum. The recommended amount is 1g of calcium per kg of body weight 

That would mean a 5 kg dog (about 11 lbs.) would need 250 mg of calcium per day (minimum).

My Shiba Inus are roughly 20 pounds so they would need roughly 500 mg of calcium per day as a minimum. The recommended amount would be closer to 1g of calcium per day.

One teaspoon of eggshell powder contains about 800 - 1,000 mg of calcium. So I generally give my Shibas a little less than a teaspoon of eggshell powder each day, depending on what type of meal they are having.

Dogs that are on raw diets and eat raw, meaty bones need less calcium supplementation as the bones contain calcium.