compost pile day 11, slowly getting less warmer

[Bryce Thomas]

Everything is going well with my compost and im doing the berkley/hot composting method which takes 18 days and everything looks good but the pile has slowly been getting colder very slowly since day 8 or 9. I don't add to it, I turn it every other day and watered it heavily a couple days ago since it seemed really dry. It is as wet as a well wrung sponge, so barely even damp. Is this normal?

 

[gtaus]

I let my chickens compost all my grass clippings, leaves, and wood chips in their chicken run. It takes a lot longer than 18 days. More like one year....

AFAIK, your hot compost pile should be as damp as a wet sponge. When you pick up a handful of the compost, you squeeze it and you should get some drops of water coming out. But I am no expert, so maybe a good YouTube video on the subject with over 1.4K likes might help....