Composting poop.

[Tulpa]

Hi. We have just started keeping a pair of Bovan Goldlines. They are prodigious manure producers whilst on Layer's mash. We use woodchippings as litter in their nest boxes and tray and wonder if we can put the product, wood chips and all into the compost bin?

 

[Kickin' Chickin']

Thats where I put mine ,depending on where you are it takes a good 6 months for it to break down into useable compost.Don't forget to turn it every now and then and water it down when you first put it out.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Our organic vegetable farm is slightly over 5 acres. The chicken manure is what drives it. In fact, would it not be for the work involved, I could/should double my rather sizable flock, simply for the valuable manure. In the fall and winter, we simply spread it directly onto the fields. In spring and summer, when the plants are growing, it must be piled up. It composts rather quickly. Chicken litter is very close to the perfect composting blend of high energy poop and carbon matter straw/chips fuel.

 

[galanie]

Chicken poop is actually the reason I got my chickens. I dont' really eat many eggs. I am no longer supplementing my garden with anything but chicken poo composted with leaves or whatever and my vegetables are doing GREAT. In my case I get it by scraping the poop boards every day. I haven't cleaned my coop out in over a year. It's dry and they're only in it at night and to lay. So it's not mixed with anything initially but I've got plenty of my leaves and the neighbors clippings and leaves. Makes perfect compost. And he loves not having to mess with putting his stuff in bags by the curb lol.

 

[Tulpa]

Thank you everone. I intend composting from now until around June before using it. Currently running two bins so I should be in the swing by this time next year...

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can get as technical and complex as you wish about composting or just keep it simple. The manure provides a lot of nitrogen and the wood chips provide mostly carbon. To reach maximim efficiency in composting you'd need to carefully balance nitrogen and carbon, provide just the right amount of moisture, and turn it at specific times. I don't bother with all that.

The wood chips will be kind of slow to break down. Don't let that discourage you. They will get there. And I like Galanie's method of using a droppings board to gather more of the pure stuff, but I clean mine maybe weekly, not every day. We all do things differently.

My biggest problem in composting is keeping it moist. You don't want it to stay soaking wet because the wrong microbes set up housekeeping and it can turn slimy and smelly. It still becomes compost, but it is kind of unpleasant along the way. But if it gets too dry, the microbes don't work. It's a learning process. You'll get there.

I keep two bins. One is the working bin actively making compost. I'll add pure manure for a while to this one just to keep the nitrogen level up. But I quit adding the pure manure a month or so before it finishes. When I use it, I run it through a sieve I made with 1/2" hardware cloth. Anything I can get through the sieve I consider compost, even if it has not totally broken down. Anything that does not get through, with me this often includes wood chips or prune pits, I throw on my second pile. I save my plastic chicken feed bags and store the finished compost in them until I need it. The paper bags will rot pretty quickly, so I don't recommend using paper bags. You can put it straight in the garden if you want to, once it is composted.

My second bin is the stuff I am storing to get ready to compost. It might be garden or kitchen wastes and scraps, dead limbs, leaves, or grass trimmings. When I empty one side out, I just move the stuff over from the other bin and start a new batch.

There are a lot of different ways to compost. I'm not saying my way is the right way or the wrong way. It's just the way that works for me.

One tip or trick. When you start your first batch, throw a shovelful of dirt in it, preferably topsoil. This contains microbes that will break down the stuff. On your next batches, throw a bit of compost in it to provide these microbes. That's one advantage of throwing my stuff that does not go through my sieve back in there. It seeds the new batch with microbes.

 

[Tulpa]

That is SO valuable.. Thank you! I had considered the topsoil thing assuming that that was how nature did it! Really, I havent maet a nicer bunch than you lot on this forum. Youre already making life easier!