Egg Shells Question

I was just curious as to what everyone is doing with egg shells in their own gardening methods. I posted this in the "Organic Gardening" forum and thought I'd also add a link here:

http://davesgarden.com/t/375566/

Thanks!

As for me; well right now I have seeds started in some washed out egg shells.
Crushed shells are good to put around your hosta plants to keep slugs and snails away.
Decorate a picture frame by gluing small pieces on wooden frame and then painting with a light coat and then sealing it; or can leave natural and just add a coat of sealer.
Crush the shells and let soak in water and use to water your plants.
But some in the bird feeders for the birds; good for the birds; (washed first of course)
Crush and put in flower and garden beds
Right off hand; that's about all I can think of on how I use up my egg shells.

One year I planted marigold seeds in egg shell halves. When the seedlings were large enough, I crushed the bottom of the egg shell so the roots could get through and put them in the flower bed. Darned if the next day they weren't strewn around all over the place. Upon close inspection I noticed telltale raccoon tracks. The little devils must have smelled the egg and investigated.

I crush them finely and add to the worm bin in the basement.

Other than that I just add them to the compost pile.

I crush the egg shells , put some out for birds, put some back in my chicken house for the banties, and put rest in the compost piles.

All of mine get tossed in the compost pile.

Thanks, All!

When you give them to the birds, rutholive, do you soak them first or clean them in any way?

BTW, if you don't mind my ignorance here, what is a bantie?

You may wish to soak or rinse your egg shells to remove the remaining albumin (white), and the inner membrane.

My personal experience is that these proteins, which are essentially "meat," made an odor in my worm bin.

Others may not have run into this problem.

Adam.

Morph, a bantie (nickname for bantam) is a pint sized chicken...yep a little guy, just like bantam weight prize fighters. Their eggs are small, too. Their big advantage is that they will set on eggs and hatch them. (most modern chickens will not do this). The bantams make excellent moms !!

Aaawwww.... they are so cute! I'd never heard of a bantie or a bantam ~ thanks for sharing. Are modern chickens on protest or what? That seems weird that they don't hatch/sit on their eggs...

When chickens set on a nest to hatch babies, they stop laying for the three week incubation period. They also don't lay while tending to their new born chicks. Thus a chicken farmer does not want his chickens to "set" and quit laying eggs....he loses his profit. If he wants new chicks, he buys them or incubates fertile eggs in an incubator. The new hatchery chicks get along just fine without a Mom. (Perhaps a little bit lonlier though). Our chickens are for fun and that's why we have bantams. Here is one of our "cool" ones....it's a Sultan bantam chicken.

I throw my egg shells into our compost bucket, then out to the compost pile. They eventually break down or get sifted into the finished compost.

Here's a great idea if you have kids: Break an egg toward the top so that you have the better part of the shell intact. Rinse it out and put some potting soil in it, then plant some grass seed. You can use a marker to paint a face on the front, and as the grass grows, you've got this crazy little guy with green hair.

Oooh, I like that Weezingreens! Thanks!

SILLYLILY, the Sultan bantam chicken is on the left, yes? What an interesting bird!!!

Thanks for the education on the chickens and profits, etc...

And, Happy Birthday, SILLYLILY! Just caught my eye down here on this thread!

I have been watching this thread with interest and now I will add my two cents worth. I have a worm bin in my basement. It is wood, 2ft wide, 4ft long and a foot deep. It is divided into two sections with a permanent 1/4inch screen and a removalbe solid slide separating the two sections. Once I figure one section is about used up I remove the solid slide and let the worms work their way over to the new bedding after which I clean out the completed side for my garden and reinsert the solid slide.
I have an old blender that I use to grind my kitchen wastes with some water and I always include my eggshells, plus old coffee filter and grounds. I just pour the contents on top of the bedding and cover with black plastic. It is working well.

I use mine in a tea for the houseplants(tropicals)...take the shells and seep them in warm water and they love it...the majority ends up in our compost..but you right in saying, the slugs won't touch it with their bellies! E.

Oh, I used to have a little banty rooster! i found it in the yard one day and i got to keep it!! It's name was peepers, every time i saw a bug, i would say peep, peep, and point at it and peepers would run like the dickens and eat the bug!! Peepers used to go for rides in the car too, he used to perch on the gear shift and just look all around as we drove thru the country.i used to sneak him in my bdrm at night. He was such fun :)