Composting chicken poo

[hansolo]

How to effectively compost chicken poo and kitchen scrapes?
I have an earth machine. Main ingredients are poo, pine shavings, straws, kitchen scraps. I don't turn too often but does water accordingly.
Should I get an aerator, or buy a second bin? Right now we use the add on method and it seems rather slow. I do suspect not enough brown, should I be adding more straws? Do pine shavings take a long time?
Thanks for any input.

 

[hcppam]

I just know you need Green waste to help it cook.

 

[kriswrite]

If the contents seem wet, stop adding water and add more browns. If the contents seem dry, add more greens and maybe a little water. Turning frequently is very important, too. Some composters just do a faster job than others. I have 2; one works about twice as fast. It's just the design; it has better aeration.

 

[inohio]

Pine shavings and straw are both brown and tend to be bulky. Sounds like you might need more green (water won't fix lack of green). Do you bag your mower by any chance? Or are you weeding something that doesn't have a lot of fiber in it? If you're in a rural area, you might even have a good 'weed' that you can cut down to throw in (like burdock makes huge green leaves that are great to compost).

 

[hansolo]

I think we might have too much green (poo, a lot of kitchen scrape) as the compost smells a little.
The bin we have is called Earth Machine, which is supposed to be quite good. I do turn once a while, but not a complete turn. Maybe I should invest in an aerator.
The other thing I know I should have cut, say watermelon peels into small pieces before putting in the compost but sometimes I get lazy.

 

[geekgurl]

I have a urban compost tumbler that makes it easy to turn, but it gets clumpy inside sometimes and I wish I could get my pitchfork in there to break it up. My other composter is similar to a earthmachine, but it's larger and rectangle in shape with more holes. I can get my pitchfork in there real good and move the stuff around. I think that really makes the difference. Really move it around and aerate it. Then let it bake. As for more brown, pine shavings take longer than leaves. I save all my leaves in the fall and just feed them into the compost bins in the spring and summer. However, composting for me has never been a fast process. If you have more green in there and you don't have any leaves, maybe shovel in some garden dirt? If it's smelling, let it dry out a bit and turn it more often. A smelly composter is a sign it needs more air. Maybe a good turn is all it needs.

 

[hansolo]

I currently use a pitchfork to turn too.
We only have excess fallen leaves in the fall but the chickens poo a lot everyday and we always have kitchen waste thus the excess green problem. We have a bale of straw that I could add on.
I am thinking of getting a second composter so the first one can sit and be done. Now we keep adding to it even the bottom part might be done it is not so convenient to use.
Oh, and we also have mosquito or fruit flies around the compost bin too.

 

[hansolo]

and I will be not lazy and TURN!