I've been crushing eggshells from conventionally grown
chickens, crushing them, then spreading them on top of my sheet mulch bed.
Wondering:
-if antibiotics and hormones (and whatever else) that factory farm
chickens ingest eventually concentrate in eggshells
-if these things don't decompose / break down
-how much if any of these things are taken up by plants
-if the plants take them up, then are they harmful to adult human health, or environmental quality
I realize I have a lot of questions here, and, with these things going through so many stages, it almost seems that there's unlikely to be any problem as a result of me using them on the sheet mulch bed. Also, it seems likely some of these things may concentrate in eggshells, some may be stable, some may be taken up by some plants, under some conditions, and that some of these things may be harmful to some people! But, I'd like to know if anyone is aware of research or has ideas where I can go for more info. Just writing this question out, I've nearly come to delete the question entirely!! But since I've come this far with the question, and many other people I know use eggshells in their garden too, I am going through with the question
I am a uni student in Thailand, and am a member of a
local urban
gardening group. Few of us grow
chickens, and I myself do not. I sometimes get eggshells from the food vendors at my uni's dormitory.