Compost pile/bin

[kuntrychick]

Can anyone help out this newbie? LOL

I just got chickens not even a week ago. I want to start a compost pile/bin.

I've read some info on the internet about composting, but don't quite understand.

I know you can just actually have a pile out there of it or you can make walls to contain it with wood or bricks or something or you can actually just use a barrel or something.

So, if you use a barrel, worms and such won't come to it, right unless there's access from the bottom...like holes and such?

Also, it seems some people leave theirs just open, but I've also read to keep some sort of lid on it...an old piece of carpet or something to help keep the heat in.

Do you keep it in the sun or in the shade?

I know you use "greens" and "browns" and turn it regularly with a pitch fork or shovel or something. Do you add dirt to it too? I mean, can you just clean out pine shavings or straw or whatever with poo on them and put it there and other things like kitchen waste...egg shells, vegetable scraps, coffee/coffee filters and grass from mowing the lawn, tree branches, dead flowers, etc.

I had read somewhere besides adding the greens and browns to add a layer of dirt and wet it down, so I'm confused.

Do you put things like dryer lint, newspapers, paper towel/toilet paper rolls? If so, do you have to shred the newspaper and break up the paper towel rolls or just put them in there whole?

Thanks!

I can't wait to have some good soil to use next year!

 

[Theda's Mom]

Good for you! Composting is a great idea. And it's no where near as complicated as so many advisory manuals etc paint it to be. Sure, there's a science to it and lots of good things to be learned from reading that science, but organic matter has been reliably rotting for eons without lots of fancy techniques.

Good compost piles (ie the ones in which the organic matter decomposes before the neighbors start to object) need air and moisture. There are lots of different ways to incorporate both. One method that I've used very successfully in urban backyards or where I've wanted for various reasons to confine the pile, is to take a length of 2x4 wire fencing (you know, the kind with rectangular squares), roll it into a cylinder, and then set it upright on one open end. Since you probably won't have old, decomposed compost to mix in with the new materials initially, layer the new material (grass clippings, carrot tops, whatever - so long as it's a: not cooked and b: vegetable not animal or mineral) with a few handfuls of dried dog food. The dog food promotes the growth of right kind of microbes.

Then you'll want to water the pile occasionally, and turn it occasionally. (The turning is how you incorporate air.) I usually turn mine when I have more material to add to it. With the wire cylinder, turning and adding is a snap. I simply lift the wire straight up, set it to the side, and refill it by alternating new material with whatever of the old, now composted material I'm not using in the garden.

In the case of the manure from my horses, which for practical reasons I don't even attempt to turn, I use great big 10'x10' three-sided bins. I shovel the s**t into them and when each bin is full, move on to the next. (I have three bins that I rotate.) By the time I've filled them all, the oldest has been sitting for 6 to 12 months and is more than ready for spreading on gardens and field: rich, black, and full of all kinds of joyful microbes and bugs.

If you're in a place where it rains day and night, a cover would be useful for keeping all those good nutrients from washing away. I've never had the pleasure of living in a place that gets that much rain. My issue has been keeping moisture enough in the pile to keep it cooking.

You'll know you're doing it right when you start producing lovely rich compost that is full of worms and doesn't stink of rot when you go to stir it.

Susan

 

[Theda's Mom]

PS: I just realized that you're in Alabama. Trust me, keeping your pile warm and damp won't be a problem! You'll make amazing compost, even in a slightly shady area. It's those of us who live in the colder/dryer climates that have to work a little harder at it.

 

[Hazelnut]

We have a composter called an Earth Machine for our kitchen scraps. It works great and we don't even stir it very often. We put most of our kitchen scraps in there (cooked and uncooked) and cover it with leaves or weeds. I drink a lot of coffee so I am always putting coffee grounds and coffee filters and teabags in there and they break down well. If we eat watermelon, I usually just cut up the rinds into chunks before putting it in. Corncobs too.This spring, soldier flies started breeding in our compost, and although they are icky, they do wonders for breaking down your compost fast! (make great chicken snacks too)Also, you are not supposed to put meat, bones or fats into your compost. I have been putting the litter from the hens into the compost, but I have found that it makes it very dry, so I always have to add water once in a while. Again the soldier flies are a great help with this too. This fall, save a few bags of dry leaves to cover your kitchen scraps with during the winter and early spring so that it won't smell. For most of our yard waste, we have a separate pile. Good luck and happy composting!!

 

[kagedgoddess]

Quote:
dont put it anywhere near your chickens untill its good and established, or you wont have a "pile" at all!!! lol my chickens eat every scrap i put out before the next day! you'll just have some dirt with chicken poo!

 

[nwgirl]

My compost sits in partial shade, and I did add a layer of dirt to start my pile with. If you use paper towel rolls it may be better to shred it up as it will decompose quicker. Shredded black and white newspaper is fine too. I don't add many pine shavings, but I rake the dirt floor of the chicken run and put that in the compost, plus the board under the roost. Dryer lint may contain synthetic fibers that will never decompose.

Happy composting!

 

[WeedEater]

I've had a big interest in composting, and folks here have had some helpful advice, but the be-all end-all manifesto on the composting process for me was the "Humanure Handbook". Yes, it does focus on recovering the loss of human waste in the growth cycle for gardening, but in learning about that resource, you learn how composting works, particularly the all-important "thermophyllic" process that destroys harmful pathogens and allows you to incorporate meat, bones, etc. that worm-farmers shy away from.

The true basics of composting are:

A contained area that has access to air and moisture (but not too much of either).

Apply new materials in container, and cover with more materials (as in a big pile of poop, feathers and chicken scraps, then covered with straw or sawdust)...this eliminates the odor problem.

Secure cover that prevents critters from disrupting your pile, like a wire mesh cover that deters dogs or skunks.

Continue to fill and cover until container or pit or whatever is full. Let it sit for a year. If worried, let it sit for another year. No worries.

Everything rots, and with time on your side, that's all there is to it.

If you desire to let your chickens graze the pile, that I don't recommend due to the small risk of botulism in a "working" compost pile. They seem to due fine scratching through piles of horse or cow manure for worms, but I'm a very indiscriminate composter, and I keep the animals out of it. I used to think it was a good idea, in that Dominiques were described by one English colonist as "dung-hill birds", and I thought the birds would scratch out what was good and leave what was truly rotten. But why bother with that, especially when I handle those birds on a daily basis. I wouldn't root through a compost pile until it was the end result: earth!

 

[The Zoo]

All gardening clippings go in ours as well as chicken poo and pine shavings, straw from the coop (in winter), kitchen scraps the hens don't get (anything moldy or squishy), a dead bird I found the other day (buried it deep in the compost), leftover potting soil, lets see what else....pretty much anything the chickens won't eat goes in. We have it built as a box with 4 sides and with areas between the slats. It's not pretty but we used found materials for it and it works great. Just make sure to keep it moist and turn it over every so often with a pitchfork.

 

[feckless_son]

The "no meat" rule is ONLY to prevent a queue of critters lining up at the pile for dinner, as well as keeping flies to an acceptable minimum.
Fact is, meat products are fine, even desirable, if you can keep out the unwanted visitors.

We made a box out of 1x3 vertical slats (two and a half feet square at bottom, three and a half feet tall) and lined the insides with hardware cloth (wire mesh, half-inch squares).
ALL food waste from kitchen goes in it.
We sparsely cover new food waste with wood shavings--keeps aromas to a reasonable level.

Layering with the dry shavings seems to eliminate the need for turning.
Red wigglers (worms) love to make their way up through the mess.
Torn newspaper strips are good also, with or without the shavings.

Keep it just damp enough to support life, there's lots in a good pile.

 

[bigredfeather]

If you are using deep litter method bedding with wood shavings, the used wood shavings make excellect compost material. You just need to make sure you mix it with equal part of green material(I use glass clippings). With enough rain and stirring, makes great compost in 6-8 months. When I do my spring coop clean-up, I get a big pile to start the year.