compost to feed chicken

[abdiro]

hello guys i am new here i saw a lot of posts and i really like and enjoy how you help and give advises .i wondring if i can feed the chicken 100/100 compost with no use of grain .i see a lot of videos about that and look not true and how is percentage recommended

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

i allready saw edible acros and agree 100/100 his chanel verry helping with no extra ego .also i will follow you cuz you look a nice guy how realy love help . i have 5 questions that bother me
1-is the production decrease
2-how much 100 chickens need daily
3-how many time i can let the compost and scraps intel cut it
4-is the smel awful or just a little anoying
5-how i can know i should change the compost
note : i really sorry about all that questions but that system make me curious

On production decrease, I think there is likely some. I'm not an adamant egg-counter, so I can't say for sure....with the changes of seasons, ages of hens, etc...it's tough to track. That being said, I've read that a flock raised in this way would produce at about 50% of what one would expect. I only have 20 layers (55 or so coming into lay soon), and some of my current hens are 3 years old...but I think I'm doing a LITTLE better than 50%.

What would 100 chickens need a day? Short answer - a lot! The guy from Edible Acres supplements with soaked grains. I supplement with layer feed. The Vermont Compost Company raises on 100% compost, but they are literally an industrial-size compost facility.

Another consideration is climate...up here in the Northeast, you get a loss less worm activity in the cold weather. In places that stay above freezing, this may be less of an issue. This is important in terms of protein intake. Not a lot of protein in fruit, veggie, and grain scraps...but worms and other bugs can off-set that.

Feeding 100 chickens on compost would be close to a full-time job...you'd be looking at probably a load of food waste every day or maybe two. I'm talking a full pickup-bed full. Processing that can take some time (opening packages, hauling, dumping). If I was to try it full time, I'd probably have about 3 piles the size of my setup and get food waste every day.

The smell is a good question...if my pile starts to smell, I know I need to go turn it and add carbon. At times, sourcing enough carbon is a challenge. In fall I use all my leaves, plus those from a couple of neighbors, and in summer I use whatever leaves I can find, plus spent hay, paper and carboard, etc.

What I do as far as changing the compost is that I just keep adding to a pile for around a year. The chickens tear it down, I build it back up, and I add food waste and carbon as I have it. After about a year, I build a new pile and let the old one rest. My first pile will start to get harvested this spring while I continue to build the new pile.

I hope that all helps. Happy to answer any other questions as best I can. I'm still learning, and I'm not at 100% compost-fed, but it's been an adventure. It's a good amount of work, it's messy, and I get that most people think I'm nuts.

But it's great exercise (no gym membership), I have very happy chickens, and I love turning a truck-full of landfill-bound waste into chicken feed, compost, recycling (I rinse and recycle plastic containers, and recycle or compost most of the carboard), and a small bag of inorganic "trash".

I'd say any given load, the land-fill bound volume is reduced by 90% and instead of being all food waste, it's mostly plastic bags (no good way to clean and recycle them).

It also produces great eggs...I actually donate the vast majority of mine to local food pantries (223 dozen in 2020!), but they could be sold.

No idea what your plans are, but while it'd be tough to do with other employment, in the right situation I could see someone scratching out a living selling eggs or meat, and receiving tipping fees for food waste and carbon drop-offs.

Good luck....feel free to ask more questions and I'll do my best to help, and keep us posted on what your plans are and how it goes!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Agree 100% that it is tough and potentially inadvisable unless you live in a warm climate and have significant space for piles and forage.

Also, it is “in process” compost that would provide nutrition, not finished compost.

That being said, an appropriately sized, active pile can significantly reduce use of commercial feed.

I do this actively...I always have layer pellet available, but when the weather is cooperating and I’m getting lots of compost inputs, I see intake in commercial feed go down from 50-75%.

I hope to get out today for a load of food waste today, actually.

 

[abdiro]

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hhhhhh thanks i hope i can be helpfull here and also i will sign my flock next week hhh

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

This is exactly what we’ve been wanting to do for the chickens. Have you had any issues with rats/mice in the compost? This is the only thing stopping me atm.

I personally have not seen any evidence of rodent activity. Never saw any before we started composting, so maybe they’re just not around my property. There are a number of cats in the neighborhood who may make it inhospitable.

The chicken area and compost is placed to be as far away from the house and property borders as reasonably possible, but I’m not on a big property - my entire lot is 4/10 of an acre and that includes front yard, house, and driveway.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Welcome to BYC!

Ivenot heard of feeding compost. I know chickens can dig through compost for grubs and things. But as far as I know, chickens either need lots of room and types of foliage to forage or commercial feed or milled grain specially mixed for chickens.

 

[abdiro]

thanks for answer and how you recommended to use compost

Welcome to BYC!

Ivenot heard of feeding compost. I know chickens can dig through compost for grubs and things. But as far as I know, chickens either need lots of room and types of foliage to forage or commercial feed or milled grain specially mixed for chickens.

 

[Hei 20]

hello guys i am new here i saw a lot of posts and i really like and enjoy how you help and give advises .i wondring if i can feed the chicken 100/100 compost with no use of grain .i see a lot of videos about that and look not true and how is percentage recommended

 

[iwltfum]

You need a significant amount of active compost of feed chickens. It will need almost daily amendments of food scraps and other forageable materials. The idea is you want the birds to be able to forage on the additions as well as the bugs and insects that wind up crawling around in the pile. I would not recommend this approach to someone who has not been actively making a large amount of compost for a while. It's better suited to a farm environment with a large flock.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Also, if you watch YouTube, check out “Edible Acres” - he feeds a mix of food waste, compost, and soaked whole grains/sprouts.