Composting chicken run

[gtaus]

I guess in potting soil my only concern would be disposal. How do you get rid of styrofoam-polluted potting soil?

Right. I pretty much refresh and reuse our potting soil.

I did find out that Styrofoam lasts over 500 years. However, it is not normally considered very dangerous unless you subject it to very high heat, like in a microwave. Then the chemicals can leach out. Other than filling up the landfills, it sounds like Styrofoam is not consider very harmful even if eaten by animals. Unfortunately, for a number of reason, Styrofoam is not recycled and is considered a waste product after use. Better to use paper based containers that can be recycled or composted, I guess.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Sounds like spring already where you live. I expect to have to wait another 6-8 weeks, unless we have an early spring. Right now, we still have a foot of snow sitting out in the yard. But next week we are expected to have a string of days above freezing. So one can hope for an early spring.

This past week I took out a lawn bag full of fall leaves and spread it out on the snow in the chicken run. We had a few sunny days above 32F, and the chickens went outside for the first time since late November. My chickens will not walk on snow, so it's like a fence line for them. However, the leaves on top of the snow is just fine and they will stay outside walking on the leaves. It might not be spring yet, but leaves on the snow make my chickens think it's time to leave the coop and go outside.

Spring is a relative and non-linear thing around here. High temps have gotten into the low 40’s and high 30’s, and the snow melted. We still can get snow in March, but it tends to melt fairly quickly. Last year, we got very little snow in Jan-Feb (we got more this year) but had a snowstorm on Mother’s Day.

My chickens don’t love snow either. I stomp them down a path and throw hay down, which helps a lot. The hay will also help with the mud until I can get wood chips delivered and deployed.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Right. I pretty much refresh and reuse our potting soil.

I did find out that Styrofoam lasts over 500 years. However, it is not normally considered very dangerous unless you subject it to very high heat, like in a microwave. Then the chemicals can leach out. Other than filling up the landfills, it sounds like Styrofoam is not consider very harmful even if eaten by animals. Unfortunately, for a number of reason, Styrofoam is not recycled and is considered a waste product after use. Better to use paper based containers that can be recycled or composted, I guess.

Yes, styrofoam isn’t something known to “hurt” people per say, but if it gets into soil, waterways, the ocean, it’s there until someone cleans it up...breaking into smaller and smaller pieces all the time.

And 500 years...so like 8-10 generations of people until it breaks down. And what does it break down into?

 

[gtaus]

My chickens don’t love snow either. I stomp them down a path and throw hay down, which helps a lot. The hay will also help with the mud until I can get wood chips delivered and deployed.

I put aside bags full of leaves every fall that I throw on the snow. I have not bought any hay or straw bales for many years. I think wood chips are about the best for any low areas that get muddy. Just build up a nice base of wood chips and they should last a long time.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I put aside bags full of leaves every fall that I throw on the snow. I have not bought any hay or straw bales for many years. I think wood chips are about the best for any low areas that get muddy. Just build up a nice base of wood chips and they should last a long time.

I banked a LOT of leaves in my compost pile before the bad weather came, and will be collecting a lot more once things dry out a bit...but I like the idea of grabbing bags from the roadside and "stashing" them for easy use later.

Yes, I'm finding that in the run, leaves, straw, hay, etc. are all temporary fixes at best...really looking forward to getting a big load or two of wood chips to use in the run and the compost (I think more wood chips in the compost will reduce matting).

 

[gtaus]

And 500 years...so like 8-10 generations of people until it breaks down. And what does it break down into?

Styrofoam is 95-98% air, which is part of the problem why nobody recycles it. It costs a fortune to load up and transport all that material that is essentially air. I am not a chemist, but I learned that Styrofoam could be recycled and reused, but it's just not worth the effort.

The building block of Styrofoam is styrene, which is naturally occurring in some foods like strawberries. Last time I checked, strawberries are good for you. There does not seem to be much concern of ingesting small amounts of Styrofoam in the wild. The problem seems to be that nobody will recycle it and therefore it is just more waste for the landfills.

McDonalds used to be one of the biggest consumers of Styrofoam using those containers for their food, but in recent years they switched over to paper and light cardboard containers. I think that is good because those paper products can be composted. I shred almost all the paper and light cardboard packaging we get at home and throw it into the coop, into the run, or into the compost bins.

Until now, I did not know I could shred Styrofoam and use it in potting mix. Since I can no longer get Vermiculite at our local Menards, I think I will start to shred our Styrofoam packaging and mix that in the potting soil. If I come up with some way to shred it at home that works well, I might even do some dumpster diving and retrieve Styrofoam that others throw into the recycling bins (even though they are not supposed to put Styrofoam in those bins).

If I can't find a way to shred Styrofoam at home that makes it worth my effort, then I'll just buy a minimum order of 6 bags of bagged loose fill Styrofoam insulation. For $50.00, I would have enough Styrofoam insulation to last many, many years for amending my potting mixes.

 

[gtaus]

I like the idea of grabbing bags from the roadside and "stashing" them for easy use later.

If I lived in town, I would be grabbing those bags too. But I live outside of town, and I have 3 acres of wooded land. I typically have more leaves than I can use. I think this year I will have to enlarge my chicken run just so I can dump the grass clippings and leaves for this coming year. I still have a few unused bags of leaves to throw out this winter, so I had my stash about right.

Yes, I'm finding that in the run, leaves, straw, hay, etc. are all temporary fixes at best...really looking forward to getting a big load or two of wood chips to use in the run and the compost (I think more wood chips in the compost will reduce matting).

Wet leaves, straw, and hay can really mat down and become anaerobic. Wood chips will certainly help to break up that matting and keep things smelling good. I try to add things in layers with wood chips between the layers. My chicken run compost is about 18 inches deep and is like a big sponge. Smells like the forest floor.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

So, March in RI...crazy windy and 16 degrees this morning during animal chores. Supposed to hit 30 today. Tomorrow’s high is forecast for 46.

I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to unload the half a pickup bed of food waste I picked up yesterday.

 

[RUNuts]

So, March in RI...crazy windy and 16 degrees this morning during animal chores. Supposed to hit 30 today. Tomorrow’s high is forecast for 46.

I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to unload the half a pickup bed of food waste I picked up yesterday.

You aren't afraid it will spoil???


Or more appropriately, freeze to the truck?

I'm glad we got our freeze out of the way for this decade.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

You aren't afraid it will spoil???


Or more appropriately, freeze to the truck?

I'm glad we got our freeze out of the way for this decade.

Ha ha...would be trouble if my compost decomposed!

But you’re right that I when I grabbed a couple small bags out of the truck today and dumped them on the pile, the contents were pretty much frozen...they’ll defrost tomorrow for a “frozen TV dinner” for the flock!