Chicken poop! (Get your attn?)

[suburbanchick]

I'm shandea, BTW, and I've been a member for a few weeks, but I wanted a more 'chickeny' name. I just got small coop built by a guy here in Raleigh and although we're going through a cold snap here and I can't put them outside just yet, my chicks are loving life in their coop - in the garage for now.

I have 4 SLW's that are about 4 weeks old. I'm enjoying them so much

I'm wondering though... when I clean out their coop, what do I do with the shavings? I think I read that I can't put it directly on my flowerbeds bc it may burn the plants? But if I let it pile up and 'compost', won't it stink? I really have to be careful because I have 3 houses very close to me and don't want to 'offend. I do like to be earth-friendly though and don't want this to go in the trash.

What do you guys do with your poop?

 

[wynedot55]

you can put the poop an shavings on your flowerbeds.without fear of the poop burning them.youll clean it out 3 or 4 times a year.an the poop will be cured out.an your not putting that much on your flower beds anyway.

 

[suburbanchick]

Three or four times a year? I was thinking about cleaning it out weekly! It'll be real easy the way the coop is designed just to take out the two floor pieces and dump them. Am I being unrealistic?

Wouldn't it stink really bad if I left it that long? It's a small coop - like 3' x 3' with a run. I'll move the whole thing to a different spot in the yard every couple days.

Thanks for your input...

 

[keljonma]

Check around the web or at your local library. There is lots of good information out there on how to have a compost heap in the city. If you do a compost pile properly, it won't stink.

Or if you know someone that already does compost, give them a call and give or sell them your chicken gold.

But seriously, I would recommend that you try to find the book, Keep Chickens! Tending Small Flocks in Cities, suburbs, and Other Small Spaces by Barbara Kilarski, published by Storey Publishing. The ISBN# is 1-58017-491-4. The publisher's web address is: www.storey.com

Ms Kilarski raises 3 hens in her suburban backyard in Portland, Oregon. She has some great information for people raising small flocks. She recommends cleaning out your coop every week so it won't smell.

I love the way this book is written and it was the first chicken book I bought.

We have a farm, and we raise our chicken flock on deep litter through the winter. During the warmer months, we only keep a couple inches of shavings on the hen house floor and clean them weekly.

We have a large compost heap for our barn muck, shavings and kitchen compost.

regards,
keljonma

 

[Chickenmom]

We use the built-up litter system, otherwise known as I'm too busy right now to clean the coop so I'll just throw down some more pine shavings. The poop composts naturally and after 6 months obtains sanitizing properties. In the Spring on a warm day(Soon?) we take the snow shovel and clean it out putting the litter in a pile to be tilled into the gardens later. We use a bleach/ water mixture to clean the walls, floors, roosts and boxes and let them air dry. Then we put a good 4" layer of pine in and we're good for another season. If the pile starts to smell it is usually because it has been super rainy. That's when I sprinkle some PDZ (stall refresher) over the pile. Note when poop builds up too much in your coop put down more shavings. We tend to till and plant at the end of May and the piled up poop/ shavings that we cleaned out in April gets turned into the veggie then. We have yet to have burned plants. Either we are just lucky or the breakdown time the poop had in the deep-litter system has been enough to cure it. You may want to get Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. It was the best $18.95 we ever spent! Hope this helps. We are urban too and I know how you have to be sensitive to your neighbors. Deep litter also helps keep the fly population down in the warm months.

 

[suburbanchick]

Thanks! I have the Storey Guide, but haven't gotten to that point yet. I'll go get it right now.

That's exciting though, to think that I may not have to clean it out every week!

 

[Chickenmom]

See p. 32-33 and p.244-251.

 

[wynedot55]

my henhouse doesnt stink at all.an i havent hauled the poop out in 3 or 4yrs.an i just have a dirt floor.an the poop is a fine powder right now.i really need to haul out a few loads.so guess ill do that this summer.an fertalize the grass in their run.

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Wynedot--you have grass in your run???? How do you manage that? They can make a moonscape in any pen I have, in very short order. I am very open to suggestions, if you have a way to get any grass to grow.

 

[wynedot55]

my hens are in like an 80ftl by 45ftw run.an they have a strip 20ftw by 80ftl that dont have grass.but the rest is thick with grass.i guess my pen size has something todo with having grass in it.