Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[aart]

I've never had any compost to sift.....yet, lol, but.....I have sifted other soils that I've bought and/or had delivered in bulk.

Learned that trick from my dad, who just leaned his frame up against something and tossed the dirt against it.

I built a frame with 1/2" HC attached to sit on top of my garden dump cart(holds about 9 CF)...have sifted literally about a ton of soil thru it.

 

[RichnSteph]

I built a frame with 1/2" HC attached to sit on top of my garden dump cart(holds about 9 CF)...have sifted literally about a ton of soil thru it.

That's our plan as well.

 

[hennible]

Mobile compost that can be moved by a four wheeler??

 

[lazy gardener]

The only time I sift is if I'm using it to make potting soil. That's infrequently b/c I buy potting soil by the bale: Pro mix. But, I grabbed a screen that had 1/2 x 2" edging on 2 sides (use it as a divider in the brooder) b/c it's what I had that was handy. My preference would be a 1" screen, but, I'm too cheap to go out and buy some. So, I use what I have. If there's any left over by the time I get done fudging around with chicken pens, I may make a nice 1/2" mesh screen that will fit over my garden cart. It will also have 2 legs on either side, so it can stand up for the shovel fling method.

 

[hennible]

I have a hardware cloth mesh screen that goes over my garden cart and it really is a lovely tool... 1/2" screen

 

[vpatt]

This thing is just going to rest on the lawn, not legal to keep bunnies on a screen here unless it's in direct contract with a supporting surface.

Is the wire hard on the bunnies? I think that is what I had years ago.......but the hutch was left open and the bunnies went in and out as they pleased.

 

[vehve]

vpatt, I would believe that the traditional US way of keeping bunnies on a wire mesh is a bit uncomfortable, but I don't have any experience. My wire bottom is only to stop them from digging out, they won't be walking on it. The US style wire mesh cages are easier to keep clean though, you just have a collecting bin underneath.

 

[vehve]

Sam, even a wheelbarrow bull of compost weighs enough to be difficult to maneuver, I don't think you can easily build a movable big enough compost unless it sits on a trailer. Or then you just compost in one place, empty it there, and move it to the next place where you want to compost and also use the soil. If you do decide to throw together a mobile compost, it will be interesting to see how it works.

 

[hennible]

Yes... I was thinking anything big enough to handle a winters worth of chicken bedding would be extremely heavy... I think the only way to do it would be to build it on a truck trailer... Possible but maybe not so practical.
There's about an acre in between my greenhouse site and where I keep my chickens, in the spring I load up the truck with load after load of dirty bedding and drive over to unload... Maybe a trailer with a large insulated compost could work, but I doubt it will make my to do list any time soon. I could use two larger versions of your insulated composter ( one at the coop, one of the greenhouse) and just that would improve management for me... But I love to dream up stuff...

 

[hennible]

Vehve build a garden cart, much better than a wheelbarrow for heavy loads... I moved 400lb or so ( of dirt in its bales from the store ) with my garden cart.