compost

[nvchickenmom]

Hi so I have just started a compost pile. Does anyone know if feathers are ok to put in the pile? Also does anyone know if chicken poo should be composted prior to it being mixed in the soil? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Ridgerunner]

No the subject of compost, I plan to put the bedding from the coop floor into a compost heap. The poop is mixed with saw dust and some shavings from the nest boxes, do I need to add anything else to the heap, or will this do ok on its own, and be ready for next spring ?

You want the compost heap damp enough so the microbes and bugs that eat it can live and reproduce. As mentioned the optimum moisture level is a wrung-out sponge, but rain will affect that. On the Emerald Isle you probably don't won't need to add much water.

It sometimes helps to seed the compost pile with the right organisms to get to started. You can buy anything, I sometimes see advertisements for those microbes. But an easy cheap way to do that is to take a couple of shovelfuls of dirt and toss it in there. That dirt has the microbes in it. No need to buy anything. Those microbes will show up anyway but it sometimes helps to start the process.

Neither of those are that big a deal normally though if you lived where it is really dry like a desert it could be. Those microbes will eventually show up anyway.

The possible issue is that to compost you need a balance of greens (nitrogen) and browns (carbon). The closer you are to the ideal balance the faster the process but the balance doesn't have to be that close to ideal.

From your list the bedding sawdust and shavings are all browns. The only greens is the poop. You probably do not have an good balance of greens to browns, adding some greens would probably be a good idea. Some greens are vegetables and fruit peelings or scraps, manure like chicken poop, and any green plants like fresh grass clippings. If the grass clippings dry out and turn brown they are considered browns so get them while they are fresh.

A lot of this stuff has both browns and greens in it so it's hard to get a good ratio unless you are a professional. I'm sure not. Even if you pile up a bunch of almost ll browns and it stays damp it will still break down, it just might take a while.

You might find this interesting, the local master gardeners put this together to show just how easy it can be to make compost. I love the ladies' dance moves.

 

[IamRainey]

The remarkable thing about compost is: if you make a pile it will happen. My particular perspective is the bigger the pile the better. Generates more of the heat that disinfects everything. Directly on the soil is excellent! You'll get composting both above and below the ground level.

Everyone has told you the basics: greens (nitrogens) & browns (carbons), aerobic v anaerobic (both are part of the process), damp is best, turning distributes the microorganisms and speeds things up. The closer you get to the ideals, the faster your pile will work. But, rest assured, it's gonna happen! Turn it if you've a mind to, or don't. Be sure to add those garden clippings and kitchen waste to it. Give it time and then you will dig some beautiful, rich, dark soil from the bottom of the pile.

It's "done" when you no longer see the feathers, bedding or any other identifiable elements in it.

 

[lazy gardener]

No the subject of compost, I plan to put the bedding from the coop floor into a compost heap. The poop is mixed with saw dust and some shavings from the nest boxes, do I need to add anything else to the heap, or will this do ok on its own, and be ready for next spring ?

If I start the heap on bare soil ( which I plan to do ) would I still need to toss in some dirt ? And yes plenty irrigation here , but I wonder would too much be as bad as too little

Good posts by other contributors. Just a few suggestions: try to put your compost pile where it won't get invaded by tree roots. They will suck all the nutrients out of the pile, and send their rootlets into the pile to turn it into an unusable mat. You are going to need to add more green matter. If your lawn has not been treated with insecticides/herbicides, you can add your grass clippings. Work towards layering greens and browns. Kitchen waste, garden debris, basically, anything that will rot! But, don't put in feces from dogs or cats, meat products, animal fats, or dairy. Also keep weeds that are loaded with seeds out of the mix. Any time you add garden weeds, you are adding a bit of soil which will have the microbes that help to feed the compost.

Too much water is as bad as too little. If your pile is too wet, it will become anaerobic and smell like raw sewage. If that ever happens, you just need to open the pile up to let some oxygen into it, stir it up a bit and add more carbon materials.

In order to effectively compost, the pile should be a approximately 1 cubic yard (3' x 3' x 3') If it is a lot larger, oxygen can't get to the middle to feed the organisms. If it is much smaller, it won't retain enough heat.

Have you considered letting your chickens do all the work? Just put your coop litter into the run. Add other compostable materials to it, and the chooks will gladly turn it into compost. My run is 500 s.f. I've been doing DL for more than 3 years now. And finally, after adding copious amounts of materials, I have arrived: the entire run is covered with about 6" of deep rich black compost. I do not buy shavings b/c they take too long to break down. I use leaves, hay, and grass clippings, plus some garden debris in the coop. The run gets the occasional DL cleaned from the coop, plus aged wood chips, and mountains of garden debris, grass clippings and leaves.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chicken poop should be composted before it is used. Fresh chicken poop can damage plants if it is not used very carefully. I've killed tomato plants with it before.

Feathers are fine to go in.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Hi so I have just started a compost pile. Does anyone know if feathers are ok to put in the pile? Also does anyone know if chicken poo should be composted prior to it being mixed in the soil? Thanks in advance for your help!

I throw everything bio in the compost heap I don't know if it is right or wrong I leave that up to the bugs and microbes to decide.

 

[nvchickenmom]

THANK YOU!

 

[Henry&Friends]

Feathers should be fine to go in, but they might not decompose all the way. Chicken poop should always go through compost before being used as fertilizer.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have a Plan for my compost area in the chicken run. I am not sure if this will be a good thing or not.

My goal is to place all chicken waste with the shavings and Hay from the coup and yard in the coup for added feeding. But I also planned on buying a Bag or 2 of Manure to help boost the Pile. I plan on building a Green house in the next few months for the wife and myself.

So my question would be can you effectively place a composting are inside the run without harming the Chickens?

Or will this be a Bad thing we do have a Small raised bed garden but not enough to keep it feed other than the Veggies we eat from buying them at the store.

I would not add manure to the compost area in the chicken run. Put your spent bedding in there, as well as your grass clippings and any weeds or spent veggies from your garden. You would be surprised how quickly the material adds up. The reason I advise against buying manure is this: You don't know where it is sourced from. Some manure comes from cows which are fed hay that comes from a pasture which has been treated with long acting herbicides. That herbicide passes through the cow and into the manure. It has a VERY LONG half life, and can poison your soil for YEARS. There will be plenty of microbes to activate your compost in your chicken poo! If you need more composting materials, you can add hay. (but be sure it has not been herbicide treated) If you are using shavings you are going to need more GREEN materials, not BROWN.

What about adding ashes ?

Ashes are fine in moderation. I spread my ashes on my lawn, and around the plants which love them. (Lilacs especially). My chickens find those little charcoal nuggets from the ashes and love to eat them. This time of year, their poop is always black!

 

[olivialewis]

I have read an article in gardeningknowhow.com. It details tips for composting feathers:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/composting-bird-feathers.htm
so it seems that feather also can be composted with other organic materials.

But if you want to compost chicken poo, it is better to add green materials such as vegetable waste, leaves into your pile to fasten the whole composting process. You can see in this article that C:N ratio becomes an important factor affecting the quality of the finished compost.
Parameters Affecting Composting Process