safety of non-organic eggshells

I've got constant access to loads of non-organic eggshells, but I'm unsure of they're safety. In small amounts, I suppose it'd be no biggie, but with maybe about 20 kgs (~45 lbs) ... layered into a sheet mulch bed about 5 square meters (~50 square feet) ... I hestitate. If the sheet mulch bed were to be sitting idle for several months, maybe I'd go for it, but I'll plant straight away.

I have no idea if hormones, antibiotics, and other fun things that get into conventionally grown hens concentrate in eggshells or not. I live in a university dorm, where there is a food court, where I can get all the eggshells I could ever want.

Troy Santos : According to your posted information you are in Southern Thailand? And going to college there ? I am sure that most of the birds over there are not crated for life,

but rather are free range birds, do you know anything different ? I actually am a little surprised that local farmers/gardeners have not already been re-cycling the shells, and

organic garbage back into their Plots ! The egg shells crushed down to grape seed size will be ground up in the Birds Gizzards and returned as more (egg) shells !

If possible get all the Coffee grounds and tea leaves too ! And good luck with your studies ! For the crafts ! Big AL

HIYA Big AL! I'm guessing that in my profile I've said that I'm in college (I forget if I wrote that in my profile). Anyway, yep, you're right. I'm certain (though I may be wrong) that most birds here are indeed crated for life. There's a big company called CP Foods that is the 10th largest egg producer in the world! The company is run by the devil ... I'm tellin' ya! Most local farmers / gardeners (urban, sub-urban & rural) probably aren't aware of the idea of feeding eggshells back to their chickens. I've talked with many people (farmers, gardeners, academics & and people who don't grow anything at all) about various aspects of agriculture here in Thailand ... from my perspective, the future is not bright for this country whose economy is based in agriculture.

But I wanna know about concentrations of agricultural chemicals in eggshells mostly for my own benefit. I've got a garden near the dorm where I live, and am considering using the eggshells in the sheet mulch bed that I'll plant into probably next week or the following week.

Troy Santos wrote:
I have no idea if hormones, antibiotics, and other fun things that get into conventionally grown hens concentrate in eggshells or not. I live in a university dorm, where there is a food court, where I can get all the eggshells I could ever want.

Not likely. Hormones and antibiotics are organic molecules, and eggshell is almost pure calcium carbonate -- an inorganic matrix. They don't have compatible solubility. The "fun things" that you want to avoid have a tendency to concentrate in the fat of the animal, and eggshell is certainly NOT that.

Thanks John ... thanks for the answer, and the explanation