Composting bedding

[jeb251]

wood do you ever have the problem of the compost still being to hot? I was thinking of doing it in the spring to keep more heat in the coop over the winter

 

[operator16]

Hollywood! I don't know what Thermophilic is but it sounds GREAT! Something about heat... Explain if it's more than that please.

Yes, the 2x4 welded wire lets you lose a lot of stuff from the compost heap. I used the hardware cloth that has maybe 1/2 in squares I think. It's very efficient and I don't lose much at all out of the sides.




Quote:
I use a wire bin as well. I used to use a small one like in the link but I have found that I get more and quicker compost with one about 10 ft in diameter. The only reason I use wire at all is to keep my doggies out when I put kitchen scraps in it.

I found that to many thing fell out the sides with that type of wire, making it very messy.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

It has taken 2 years to get it like that, but basically the weather really helps (it is never below the 30's)

We have a large heap-- about 3' x 6' and 3 feet tall, and we let the chickens dig in it all day so they are consistently turning it and their dropping help heat it up as do the grass clippings from all of the nitrogen.
If you are in a cold place I guess covering it with a black tarp would help increase the heat, and a PVC pipe with some holes in the sides for ventilation would be good also, we don't turn it often which helps the heat and you have to make sure that it doesn't get to dry. But the chickens are the main part, it has to be big enough that the chickens can dig it up and chop the food and poop on.

There is a good description in Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre, that is a great book and I suggest getting it.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
In 24 yrs, I've never noticed a problem, the top layer gets a heavy crust on it and the underlying stuff is almost crumbled enough to be used directly. The biggest problem is breaking that crust--I use an ice chopper--to get it out. We can get to 20 below and I don't have any other heat source in the coop so I'm assuming it helps.

 

[Siler]

Every fall hubs and I will collect all the leaves on several acres. We do a little every day and we put it on the floor of the coop. The ladies trample the leaves and when they are broken down and pooped on we put it in the compost pile. They break it down, find bugs, and add beneficial bacteria that will break down the leaves and other compost stuff down and by spring we spread it on the garden and till it in.

Also I spoke to a man who was born and raised in France then moved to the US where he joined the Army(I believe it was)as a spy against France at the time. Anyways his garden was just amazing so I asked him about his compost bins which resembled the bins at the large garden supply and/or mulch suppliers. They were bins with sides of hardware cloth with wood frames. When the first bin was broken down he moved it to the next bin and then to the next. He had 3 bins all side by side. New stuff went in the first then in the fall it went to the next bin and so on. His vegetables were so big they'd make you cry.

Chicken poo is great because it's already broken down for you. It's too high in ammonia to use directly so nature has to break it down first. Ridex is a bacteria that people use in septic tanks(which we have) that helps add more bacteria on occasion to help break stuff down in the main tank before it washes down the finger system then into the yard. We sprinkle that on the compost bin then add lots of water. We don't notice the smell tho since it's farther away from the house. We don't use lye since the ground is already very alkaline and not good for the vegetables.