Eggs as Compost?

[Lanatwo]

Please forgive my ignorance on the matter of composting - but I really am not sure of the rules for compost.

What is okay to compost and what isn't?

I think I read that uncooked food is fine to compost, but never put cooked food. I also have heard eggshells are great, but never heard anything about just whole eggs.

I have some unhatched eggs from my last round of chicks - I candled them and they are either clear or they died early in development. I have 13 of them and was wondering if they would make good compost.

I live in sand and have been doing my best to amend my soil. I'm building raised garden beds today actually. Lowes has garden soil on sale so I'm going to bite the bullet and buy some. BUT I'm composting now for next years new beds!

 

[lesa]

I occasionally put a whole egg in mine- I think the worry is that you will attract vermin...
Does your town have any compost available. We are able to pick up a truckload for 20 bucks, here. A lot cheaper than by the bag!

 

[Reinbeau]

Eggs would come under the meat category, not something you want in your compost pile. They will attract critters you don't want in your yard, like rats, skunks, possums, etc. Best to bury them.

Also, be very careful with the town compost. You have no idea what went on the lawns, for example, before it was cut and put in that pile. Pre-emergents could have been used, (crabgrass control), or weed control or somesuch - nothing you want in a veggie garden! Best to make your own compost so you know what is in it. Commercial compost, while expensive, should be ok.

 

[lesa]

Agreed- making your own compost is great! Having enough for your first gardens, impossible. I like to mix my own in with the town stuff. Is this a perfect system- no. I never would have been able to afford to fill my gardens without it though. After a year in the garden, it turns into beautiful dirt.

 

[vfem]

I agree with both. I buy truck loads of the compost done from yard debries. I take the risk because its affordable for me. Best advice to help with that, pile it with your compost and let it sit a year. Turn it with your compost and make sure its had time to let anything that may be bad seep out.

Your own is the best way to go, but it takes a lot of collecting to get a lot of compost. We do quite a bit and I promise in one year when its all broken down, I barely have enough to fill a bed!!! So I just my compost as an additive to what I already have. I also use it to make compost tea to add as a nature fertilizing feed throughout the season, and my garden loves it.

I would stay away from the whole egg in the compost, but keep them egg shells for it! Good calcium suppliment for the garden. I also keep the eggshells to the side and add to the holes when I plant my tomatoes in the spring. Helps keep away blossom end rot.

 

[patandchickens]

I have never heard of not putting cooked (vs raw) food into compost and am at somewhat of a loss to think why one might say that?

Really you can compost ANYTHING YOU LIKE, as long as you are willing to live with the results. The issues to consider are mainly:

1) some things attract rats/dogs/coons more than other things. This is arguably the biggest knock against meat, bones, eggs and oils. A burgeoning rat population is NO FUN and can be awful hard to do anything about sometimes; and dogs or raccoons can scatter your pile alllllll over. Burying the stuff deep and mixing it in with the existing compost helps. In particular, if you're going to compost eggs I strongly (from experience with rats) suggest breaking them and mixing them into a large volume of compost pile, rather than creating a nice little stockpile just waiting for a hungry rodent.

2) high-protein animal matter can encourage growth of food-poisoning type microorganisms that may still be there in some numbers when you put the compost on your garden. Whether and how much you worry about this is goign to vary a lot among people.

3) too much oils (like, emptying out your turkey deepfryer) can sog out a pile and cause poor and mostly-anaerobic composting with a poor result.

4) and, obviously, if you use anything containing herbicides or other pesticides that won't break down very rapidly, you'll end up with some amount of that in your finished compost and may have to live with the results.

Personally, I don't compost meat products or most table scraps, b/c the chickens eat them and because I don't want to make rats' lives any easier. I sometimes put small bones in the compost pile, but most large bones go to municipal composting (we have green-bin pickup here). I never HAVE lots of kitchen oils to dispose of, nor anything with poisonous chemicals in them, but if I did I would not put large amounts into the compost.

One thing to consider -- if you have a decent-sized property, it is quite possible to have multiple TYPES of compost piles, and one of them can be stuff that you are really just basically trying to get rid of rather than trying to put on your garden per se. I chuck that sort of stuff in a low windrow where the neighbor's field overflows into our backyard when it rains -- I figure anything I can do to slightly raise the level of the ground there to slow down the floodwaters is all good

I will not use municipal compost for anything at all around here anymore, even tho you can get a certain amount free each year. It LOOKS great, but I have gotten so many Very Exciting Weed Seeds that way, I'm just not doing it anymore. Plus as others have said you have no idea what the chemistry of it is. If I were very very hard-up for soil I might use some of it but only at the BOTTOM of my beds, covered with something safer.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[wifezilla]

I put questionable for eating eggs in the compost all the time! As for vermin, the squirrels are my biggest problem and they have been here longer than my garden, so i doubt the eggs have anything to do with it.

I just crunch them under foot and cover them with some straw.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You'll notice I may do some things different than others.

I sort of go by the cooked-uncooked rule, but it depends on what it is or how it is cooked. Anything cooked in oil, any meat products, any dairy products do not go in. If it has salt, butter or oil added, I won't use it. I try to stay away from what I think might draw flies or animals.

I will use things like cooked but unflavored rice. Baked potato skins and noodles will go in, as long as they have not been flavored or seasoned. Sometimes straight boiled vegetables, again as long as they have not been seasoned or adultered. My chickens normally pick through the compost heap anyway so there is not much left for raccoons or anything else. I don't put much cooked food on the compost pile, but as long as it is plain, I figure it is better there than in a landfill.

If I have a cracked or pretty dirty egg, I do break it in the compost pile. But mine is a long way from the house and a real long way away from the neighbors. I have not had any real problems doing that, but I don't do 13 at a time. If I lived in the city, I would not do that. If you can bury them deeply in your compost pile where animals cannot dig them out, they would be OK, but I would not leave them uncracked. You might get a very unpleasant surprise when you are digging out the compost.

Last time I incubated I had three undeveloped eggs that I took out after candling. Those were cracked in the compost pile. But any that develop but don't hatch, I bury and cover that area with wire weighted down with pavers to keep certain animals from digging them up. 13 eggs is not going to get you that much compost, but I do try to get everything I can in there. Every little bit helps.

I've used compost and wood chips from a municipality. It is not a perfect solution, but many things are not perfect. You do not know what is in it so you cannot do this and be certified organic. With the wood chips, I generally let them set a while in the rain so any bad stuff generally leaches away. With the compost there is a risk, but I figure any bad stuff is probably mixed so well in it that the concentration is not all that high. I also get some interesting trees from the seeds in the municipal wood chips too. I have not noticed any interesting weed seeds, but I have only used municipal compost once.

I am not familiar with Lowe's garden soil. I don't know where they get it. I've tried some of their "composted" cow manure and find that some bags are composted a lot better than others. Some look like nice compost but some could have used a few more weeks in process. I'd suspect their garden soil will also not have a lot of quailty control either, but it should do the job for you.

Good luck!

 

[Reinbeau]

Conventional composting wisdom is no meat product, or oils, as they attract animals and very unfriendly bacteria. The references can be found in any number of online and traditional gardening sources. You are, of course, free to do as you please, but understand the reasons why you shouldn't.

 

[Lanatwo]

I agree with both. I buy truck loads of the compost done from yard debries. I take the risk because its affordable for me. Best advice to help with that, pile it with your compost and let it sit a year. Turn it with your compost and make sure its had time to let anything that may be bad seep out.

Your own is the best way to go, but it takes a lot of collecting to get a lot of compost. We do quite a bit and I promise in one year when its all broken down, I barely have enough to fill a bed!!! So I just my compost as an additive to what I already have. I also use it to make compost tea to add as a nature fertilizing feed throughout the season, and my garden loves it.

I would stay away from the whole egg in the compost, but keep them egg shells for it! Good calcium suppliment for the garden. I also keep the eggshells to the side and add to the holes when I plant my tomatoes in the spring. Helps keep away blossom end rot.

Sorry again for my ignorance, but how does an eggshell keep away blossom end rot? Is it the calcium?

Not sure why I am so curious as I don't even know what blossom end rot is! XD