Citybirdcolumbus
In the Brooder
I'm new here, but I'm working on something that might be of interest to the nerds. I've built a bio-meiler, which is a compost pile with water pipe running through it, with the intention of circulating it through the bedding of my brooder. I'm not up and running yet since the pile is only around 80 degrees, but as soon as I can reliably "harvest" the heat in the pile I will.
I used 100' of PEX pipe, which, in hindsight, is about half as much as I need for this system. That, and I picked up a 100' roll of 4' tall fence to enclose the compost.
The pile will be roughly 6' in dia and 4' tall.
Here it is half way full of wood chips and manure. The manure was not as good as I'd hoped, and the pile didn't start heating until I put a truck bed load of hot leaf/manure compost into it.
This temp was taken today with an outside temp of around 25f. A few more days, and it should be hot enough to run water through. I don't want water to freeze in the system.
The PEX inside is just coiled under the center of the brooder in probably a 4' circle, and stapled into the sod. I have 5" of wood chips on top of the coils. My brooder is a 10' square. I'm hoping to reduce the need for heat lamps for brooding future flocks. I'm confident that a system like this can circulate 120 degree water for several months, and I intend to create a system like this to heat part of a tunnel for over-wintering my flock. I'll update with pics of the pump and reservoir asap.
I used 100' of PEX pipe, which, in hindsight, is about half as much as I need for this system. That, and I picked up a 100' roll of 4' tall fence to enclose the compost.
The pile will be roughly 6' in dia and 4' tall.
Here it is half way full of wood chips and manure. The manure was not as good as I'd hoped, and the pile didn't start heating until I put a truck bed load of hot leaf/manure compost into it.
This temp was taken today with an outside temp of around 25f. A few more days, and it should be hot enough to run water through. I don't want water to freeze in the system.
The PEX inside is just coiled under the center of the brooder in probably a 4' circle, and stapled into the sod. I have 5" of wood chips on top of the coils. My brooder is a 10' square. I'm hoping to reduce the need for heat lamps for brooding future flocks. I'm confident that a system like this can circulate 120 degree water for several months, and I intend to create a system like this to heat part of a tunnel for over-wintering my flock. I'll update with pics of the pump and reservoir asap.
