- Apr 17, 2008
- 18
- 0
- 22
Hello. What a fantastic forum this is. I'm reading and learning so much as I get ready to start taking care of a small flock of Wyandottes in my backyard.
My husband's an organic butcher and has been wanting to have fresh eggs for a while -- now I'm spending all my time online looking at coop construction and predator proofing. He's pretty sure he's created a monster
I have guinea pigs as pets and have a decently active compost pile -- mostly hay that they've peed on, guinea pig maure and kitchen scraps. Obviously I'll be adding the chicken litter to this as well. I plan to use DE to keep down flies and smells. (My husband *hates* flies. Ha. City boy.) I don't have that many worms in the compost, although there are some, but there are a lot of beetles scurrying around in there when I turn it. I'm assuming that the DE will kill off these bugs as well as fly larvae, etc.
So my question is, is this a problem for the compost pile? Or do the bacteria and fungusy things take up the job of the beetles and worms in the presence of DE?
My husband's an organic butcher and has been wanting to have fresh eggs for a while -- now I'm spending all my time online looking at coop construction and predator proofing. He's pretty sure he's created a monster

I have guinea pigs as pets and have a decently active compost pile -- mostly hay that they've peed on, guinea pig maure and kitchen scraps. Obviously I'll be adding the chicken litter to this as well. I plan to use DE to keep down flies and smells. (My husband *hates* flies. Ha. City boy.) I don't have that many worms in the compost, although there are some, but there are a lot of beetles scurrying around in there when I turn it. I'm assuming that the DE will kill off these bugs as well as fly larvae, etc.
So my question is, is this a problem for the compost pile? Or do the bacteria and fungusy things take up the job of the beetles and worms in the presence of DE?