Chicken coop directly over compost bin?

[GreenThumb19]

Yeah. Ok looks like I'm going to be building a coop on 4x4 legs. Half solid floor, half wire (under the roosting quarters). Only thing I'm still slightly concerned about is the poop going directly in the compost and how this could be potentially bad?? What do you think?

 

[jak2002003]

Hi, I think you have a great idea. Its similar to the way I keep my chickens, but I don't have to worry about cold temperatures where I live.

I just have small bantams and they roost in 2 large wire dog cages / crates at night which are placed about 2 inches off the ground. They have a branch in there to roost on and the top and back of the cages is covered to stop rain getting in and shade in the morning before I let them out. I hook a water cup on the side too.

The bottom of the cages are like a fine grill. The spaces are too small to let their feet fall through, but big enough for the poops to fall through onto the earth below. Its very comfortable for them to walk on. Also as they roost on the branch they won't get a draught from sitting on the wire.

Under the cages I have the normal garden soil with some sand on top. Its stays dry under there as no rain gets to the ground under the covered cage. The chickens can not fit under the cages also.

So all the poop falls through and dries up on the earth and sand.

About once a month I move the cage, shovel up all the dry poop and some earth and compost the lot, just adding extra earth and sand under the coop. So quick and easy.

Because it stays quite dry there is NO SMELL and its not messy to handle.

In the daytime the chicks free range where they want.

 

[laura625]

I like the idea even better now, with wire floor just under the roost and a trapdoor floor on the rest!
maybe the chicken wire with smaller holes would be ok. Some manure would stick to the wire, so you'd need to be able to get to it to scrape it clean once in a while. Rats are the only think I can think of that could be an issue.
As far as the chicken poop being too much for the compost, I'd say it depends on what else goes into the compost ,but even if its just chicken droppings and bedding, it will decompose eventually.
IME all but the very best maintained compost piles freeze at some point during the winter, and don't produce heat. When they are working, they produce heat, And moisture.
I wouldn't worry about the cold in a set up like this. worst comes to worst you could put a board over the wire in very cold weather.
I think you put the high vents across the coop from the roosts, instead of above them, you wont create a strong draft that flows up over the sleeping chickens every night.
How tall are you planning to make it?
I cant quite picture how you will be able to get at the compost to turn it comfortably.
cant wait to see pictures. not to hijack, but, what sort oof chickens are you getting?

 

[GreenThumb19]

Well to put it simply, I live in the suburbs, I need 2-4 most well behaved *QUIET* chickens possible. I was thinking rhode island reds, or wyandottes, maybe plymouth rocks? I plan on make the coop stand 2 feet above the ground which should make composing manageable. I was thinking the compost would be composed of chicken manure and hay, maybe kitchen scraps too? My operation can't smell bad, sadly I have neighbours who would not appreciate the smell of chickens but enjoy the sound of a dog... BARKING... 24/7!!! So I should make the ventilation holes opposite (front) the roosting area (back) ?

 

[missnu01]

As much stuff as you can get in the compost the better, but you need to make sure you add some dry matter here and there. Roughage if you will, grass clippings, straw, pine chips, pine needles...so on and so forth. You can look up composting formulas, but really you want it to be at least 1/2 roughage, 1/4 dirt and the other 1/4 everything else, poo, veggie scraps, so on and so forth. Try not to add anything salty, oily, or meaty and that will keep most things from rummaging in your compost. You will have the best compost ever. We compost all of our chicken bedding, but the idea of having the compost pile right under the coop is awesome. If you have ever turned over a large compost pile when it is really really cold outside and saw it steaming you know how much heat a good going pile can generate. In Summer the compost pile won't really add that much heat because the ambient heat is usually enough so the compost won't heat up as much, but it could potentially make it warmer in winter. But compost piles work the best at right around 100 degrees F. So in winter the bacteria and organisms work hard making it warm, and when it is warm out they don't have to work so hard...but the heat is what breaks down all the matter that is in the pile. Just make sure you can turn the pile pretty often to keep everything bopping right along. You can also compost your dryer lint and paper and cardboard. It falls into the roughage category...like shredded newspapers are great for starting. You'll have to look up the actual ratios, actually composting is really interesting to me, so give it a look and see what you think and how you might make it work, but having wire under the roosts is very possibly the best idea ever, because as soon as chickens fall asleep they seem to poo all night long by the looks of the areas right under the roosts. I wish I could incorporate something like this with our coop, but our coop is the top floor of a 2 story garage thing...so the poo would have to fall into the garage, and I'm just not for that...so we have to sweep all the hay out the door and then gather it up and pile it in the proper place...

 

[GreenThumb19]

Wow thanks for all the positive feedback!

Do you have any good chicken breeds in mind? Quiet*
Also slightly off topic but anybody know of good chicken coop plans for 2-3 chickens? I look on this website but it's not exactly what I'm looking for?

 

[missnu01]

I have a few barnyard mix chickens that don't even make noise while laying eggs, but I don't know what they are...some generational muttley chickens. I have a leghorn that is super cackle-y when laying but silent all the other time...I have a buff orpington that I haven't heard make noise yet really but she doesn't lay yet either I don't think...or she may have started. Most chickens are pretty quiet unless you have a rooster...the roosters are the noise makers as far as I can tell. I mean the chickens make little noises, but we can't usually hear it from inside the house and the coop is maybe 30-40 ft away. I like the little chicken noises, actually I also like the rooster noises, so maybe I am not the person to ask about chicken noises, but our mixed yard birds definitely are very quiet. And since my flock is mostly comprised of those mix chickens it is pretty quiet up there all the time, and I have a rooster that allows no fighting at all.

 

[GreenThumb19]

yeah my coop will be less then 10feet away from my NEIGHBOUR so I really need to be careful.

 

[laura625]

another way to think of "roughage" is high carbon stuff, to balance the hi nitrogen of chicken poop. or you can think of "brown (carbon) balanced with Green,(nitrogen)./
so, dried leaves, straw, hay, Old grass clippings, shredded cardboard...
for coop plans, I can only recommend google search. try a search for "pallet coop"

 

[jasmer]

Have you looked into Deep Litter? You rarely have to clean it, and the only time is when your head is hitting the rafters on your chicken coop/run (if applicable) or when you want to throw it on your garden and start the litter over again each year. Deep litter is, to overly simplify it, a glorified compost system that keeps the run clean, attracts tasty bugs and worms, and provides you with compost for your garden.

I'm a little hesitant on the wire floor thing, it seems like it's just broken toes waiting to happen.