Calling all composters...

[CuddleNest]

I keep a mealworm compost pile near my chicken coop. I put the dirty hay and shavings and everything else dirty (even moldy feed) from the chicken coops and my sheep barn stalls into the compost pile and I feed the mealworms to my chickens. It works great and the mealworms multiply fast! I will post a picture of it in the morning.

I like having mealworms in the pile because
A. The chickens love to eat them
B. They multiply fast
C. Unlike earthworms, they don't need to stay wet and do fine in both dry and wet climates

Do you think I could put my fledgling mealworm colony into my barrels? Looking forward to the pictures!

 

[chickenlittle21]

I keep a mealworm compost pile near my chicken coop. I put the dirty hay and shavings and everything else dirty (even moldy feed) from the chicken coops and my sheep barn stalls into the compost pile and I feed the mealworms to my chickens. It works great and the mealworms multiply fast! I will post a picture of it in the morning.

I like having mealworms in the pile because
A. The chickens love to eat them
B. They multiply fast
C. Unlike earthworms, they don't need to stay wet and do fine in both dry and wet climates

 

[CuddleNest]

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This is really great! My colony might be too small, but I think I could start a new one in the compost! Do you think it would work if the barrels are closed (i.e., that the worms are mainly in the dark)? Thanks a lot for the idea and the pictures!

 

[Lizmom]

I make bushels and bushels of compost every year. Literally, about 12-15 bushels. But I don't waste much time or money, doing it. I'm not in a contest to see how fast I can make it. I usually need it in the spring, so waiting until spring is no problem. I give away a lot of plants, and they're always planted in pure compost. I also save a lot of money not buying soil.

I have 6 big 18 or 20 gallon tubs hidden in my shrubs. I steal people's bags of grass clippings from the curbside in the spring, hide them in my shrubs for the summer. Sometimes in the spring, I can find bags that have leaves left over from the fall. Toward fall, I steal bags of leaves, and fill my tubs with alternating layers.

I never turn compost. I use fairly narrow layers of both green and brown, and it makes itself perfectly over winter. The work of turning is very hard and unnecessary, unless you're trying to win some contest for speed.

Sand in the finished soil is perfectly fine. You usually want some sand in your soil. You actually should be adding small hand fulls of sand to your compost in order to help earthworms. They need to be able to eat some grit to keep their bodies functioning right. To increase earthworm's, it's also a great idea to tear up corrugated cardboard and throw some scraps in. The earthworms will increase dramatically if they get to eat corrugated cardboard.

No dog or cat poop can be added. Animals who eat meat have some pathogens that can be passed on to people in vegetables that are grown in the compost. Manure from fowl, sheep, and rabbits, is wonderful, but remember manure works as a green, even though it's colored brown. If I'm lucky enough to get horse manure, I store it an extra a year because it's really sharp.

I put no weed seeds in compost. I also avoid putting in plants that tend to carry a fungus or virus, like tomato plants at the end of the year.

Some people try to make composting into a scientific project. It certainly doesn't need to be, and it doesn't need to be hard work either.

 

[Percheron chick]

I turn it once or twice a week.

You've probably researched this some more but stop turning it. The pile needs to heat up (cook) to kill pathogens and start decomposition. Turn it once a month.

Everyone has their way to compost. It depends on climate, space, materials available, livestock, time, tools (tractor)... As long as it eventually breaks down without smell and attracting pests, it's a success.
To the OP, go small and simple to start. Just dump your waste in the run. Let the chickens work through the waste. They will eat what they can and break and stir up the rest. Until the bears hibernate, keep any kitchen scraps out. No reason to draw them to the coop even if it's secure. A compost pile will provide productive entertainment for the long winter months.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I go “large pile in the chicken run”. You can find more detail at the link in my signature, but I have a large pile in my run that the chickens eat lots of food waste, worms and bugs, mitochondrial fungus, etc.

The flock kicks a lot off stuff off the pile, which I pile back up every day or two. It’s a LOT of work...but great exercise (I’ve lost 14 lbs since last summer)

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

A recent shot of the pile (which is large enough that I feel I may need to name it):

 

[Compost King]

I can't speak to all the methods but usually once a year I gather up all my compostables (clean out coops, shovel out runs etc, and apply it to a teepee or tent skelton made of old decomposing Bamboo. when all the Bamboo is buried I start adding more bamboo and cover that with compostables. eventually I end up a pile 6 feet high, 6 feet wide and 10 feet long and leave it for 6 months.

Here are pictures of the one I am currently building. step by step I believe I started it in April and its still growing.

 

[Compost King]

A recent shot of the pile (which is large enough that I feel I may need to name it):

I actually name my piles when i complete them... I do not name my chickens, I do not name my rabbits, and I do not name my cat... but I am name my compost piles. Last one was named Mt. Poopington. When I finish the next one I will come up with a name for it.

 

[eaking]

This is really helpful.

I am clearly the city slicker, here. We live in LA and have a relatively small yard (which is pretty much dominated by our chickens - and I'm fine with that). Around the side of the house we have a run with stones and I have two side by side "spinning" compost bins. While one is "cooking" I fill the other.

We're in this weird period right now, where one is almost ready to be used for fertilizer and the other is at maximum capacity so most of my food waste is actually being wasted - which sucks. I wish I could give it to the girls, but they're so picky. They like three things right now: crickets, mealworms and watermelon. I'm hoping eventually that'll change.

In the almost ready pile, there are a few things that aren't breaking down (just too stubborn, I guess). Some egg shells, a lime or lemon that we didn't cut up.. My question is, do you just pick those out and get a move on or wait for every single thing to decompose?

I've never used a regular compost pile but I have to say that I really like the ones I'm using. They're easy to fill and empty and there's virtually no smell.

I wonder if adding mealworms to a composter like that would work? Probably not?