Chicken poop when you don’t compost

[Perris]

That's awesome! Thank you. So, it's like in-ground composting. We will be building some raised beds since we both have problems getting down on the ground. It doesn't mention those - will it work just as well?

yes; see the link in post 32 above for keyhole beds with built in compost heap
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-poop-when-you-don’t-compost.1598079/post-27171508

 

[odchooks]

There are a ton of great ideas on here but I’ll give mine. I also have Three chickens and live in the city with a small backyard. I use a tumble composter with 2 bins- one to let things age and one to put fresh stuff in. I scoop poop from a board with sweat pdz (zeolite- great for gardens) and into the compost and give it a spin. I have a little ceramic bin to store veggie scraps in the kitchen and once a day throw that in too. Adding some pine shavings from the nest box once in a while and that’s how easy it is. When full I switch sides and empty the old aged compost that smells Earthy into a bucket and it can go into the garden.

 

[NevadaEmma]

If there is a local online bulletin board or online social group, post it for free.

Contact a local gardening group for use in their garden.

Contact a local gardening store, not one of the big ones, but a small nursery. They tend to be a source of neighborhood knowlege about composters or gardeners.

Personally I have a large compost pile that I just keep adding to over the year. I put in all my appropriate kitchen scraps that do not go to the chickens or the geese, leaves, flower trimming, and yes poop. I keep it moist and cover with tarps or large plastic sheets.

It can initially smell somewhat depending on how hot the mixture gets, but that subsides in a few days.

In the fall, I start a new pile near the original and start adding my fall cleanup items that are appropriate, laying the new with some of the old composted pile. Then I let the original pile completely compost and put in my garden beds, or trees, etc.

I also keep my worms in my compost pile which can be a terrific addition as long as the pile is not too hot. My worms will go to the bottom of the pile or wherever it is comfortable for them. Always a nice suprise to find them in the fall!

Sounds like a nursery or garden club is your best bet. You may make some new chicken friends!

 

[SamIamNam786]

If there is a local online bulletin board or online social group, post it for free.

Contact a local gardening group for use in their garden.

Contact a local gardening store, not one of the big ones, but a small nursery. They tend to be a source of neighborhood knowlege about composters or gardeners.

Personally I have a large compost pile that I just keep adding to over the year. I put in all my appropriate kitchen scraps that do not go to the chickens or the geese, leaves, flower trimming, and yes poop. I keep it moist and cover with tarps or large plastic sheets.

It can initially smell somewhat depending on how hot the mixture gets, but that subsides in a few days.

In the fall, I start a new pile near the original and start adding my fall cleanup items that are appropriate, laying the new with some of the old composted pile. Then I let the original pile completely compost and put in my garden beds, or trees, etc.

I also keep my worms in my compost pile which can be a terrific addition as long as the pile is not too hot. My worms will go to the bottom of the pile or wherever it is comfortable for them. Always a nice suprise to find them in the fall!

Sounds like a nursery or garden club is your best bet. You may make some new chicken friends!

This is so informative and excellent advice! Thank you so much!

 

[JanetG]

Hey there! I would like to know what do you do with chicken poop if you don’t compost?! I only have 3 chickens but their poop every morning is almost 1/2 c . Imagine a month of this and it will be 15 cups of poop! What I currently do is throw it in a garden bed, the side that has no plants, just dirt. But I’m worried about having flies There soon. We don’t compost bc I have no clue about it. I have 1/5 acre land, and 1/2 of it is the backyard. So not a lot of space to work with.

Sounds like you need to have a new hobby . Plus , composting is good for your garden and the environment

 

[Chicalina]

I do the same as another poster. Fill empty plastic feed sacks with poop board droppings, roll the top down to keep the smell in and poke a couple of holes in the bottom for liquid to drain out. Fill gradually, then when full leave for a few months until it smells like fresh earth, then dump on garden.

For the main coop shavings I use deep litter and dump in the run every couple of months when I clean it out. It's only that frequent because I have a lot of chickens now. When I'm down to 5 or 6, its just 2 or 3 times a year.

Sod having 1 to 2 inches of shavings! Fill that coop deeper and the chickens will turn it for you, it won't smell and it's less work.

Also, lower your standards. Maintaining a coop with no poop is unrealistic!

 

[paintedChix]

What I would do to start out in a smallish yard: Drive in 4 T-posts to make a 3x3 square near your coop, and wrap them around with poultry wire. Every time you clean the coop dump it in there, then cover with twice as much dead leaves and twigs, office paper from your shredder, ripped-up pizza or amazon boxes, crumpled pieces of newspaper. Same for kitchen scraps, every gallon you dump, cover with 2 gallons of

Composting doesn't have to be hard or complicated, and it doesn't have to be smelly or noxious to your neighbors, or

For folks that have a larger (or taller) run, this can be done in the run itself, taking up less space in yard & giving birds interest. It can be planted along sides & top w/ greens, veggies that they can eat, etc.

Thread 'Chicken Food Tower' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-food-tower.1480872/

Or check out Sean's Edible Acres You Tube vids...

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLihFHKqj6JerKruLfMcxdNKDRHkGxgwwz&si=LBqYG3nJtHike0MZ

In OPs original post, I didn't see how tall run is, but if similar to coop, not tall enough for a 3-4' ring, but coul do as tall as run. Or put on outside against run, the chickens can eat what grows through & around outside can be "mowed" by you & dropped into run for chickens.

 

[ArizonaDream]

I have 20 hens and put down construction sand, under the roosts and on the floor. I clean it everyday by sifting it like cat litter. My husband dug a huge hole and I dump it in there, when it’s full he digs a new one. I have alfalfa in the run that the hens love and it smells wonderful, I’m thinking of trying it in the coop. Thought's?

 

[OaktownChicks]

I live in an urban area with a small yard and not much composting space, not sufficient to rotate piles. Plus, I'm all about minimal effort. I have a heap (about a cubic yard which is the minimum to get heat in the middle) that I just throw the poop and bedding on. Sometimes I throw in some fresh veggie scraps, egg shells and coffee grounds from the kitchen for good measure. I'm not picky with the timing of using it, but I usually wait 2 to 5 months, depending if it is spring or fall planting season. If it is fresher, I bury it a foot or more under the plants. I figure by the time the roots grow that deep, it will be more or less composted, and it keeps the pathogeens under ground. This isn't scientific, and it may be that my method is BS, but so far so good. My plants are very happy!