Compost Q

[promiseacres]

Ok I always thought egg shells would break down in compost, but the bin we took down and spread on the garden still had shells in it! It had sat over an year and no it did not get turned on reg. basis. (we're building a manure bunk/compost pile to fix that)

So are egg shells ok to put in the compost? (this was before I had my hens so store bought eggs)
Does anyone know of any good guidelines for composting?

Thanks

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I still put the eggs shells in the compost, but break/smash them up as they are thrown in or as they turn up. They will eventually break down and will leave more calcium in the soil. I even gave up trying to really contain our compost much. Every now and again I try and rake up the edges, but the chickens, ducks and geese forage through ours for good stuff. The only reason I worry about breaking up the shells is so my hens don't learn to break their own eggs and eat them (which they sometimes learn without the influence of shells in the compost anyways!)

If you don't want the extra egg shell stomping fun, or if your compost is properly contained and that isn't feasible, you can also dry the shells and grind/smash them for directly feeding back to your chickens for calcium, putting down a coarse layer of them around roses or other slug sensitive plants ( I believe it dries slugs and snails out) or adding to tomato plantings (throw in a little bit of epsom salts for magnesium as well and your tomatoes will thank you!)

 

[currycomb1]

i was going to suggest just crunching up the shells and feed to the chickens for added calcium for better shells on the eggs they lay