Composting chicken run

[vpatt]

The issue for me was that I did not like the "look" of colored shredded paper out in the chicken run. It did not look natural to me like wood chips, leaves, and grass clippings does. But all that seems to disappear after the first rain and the shredded paper seems to disappear into the run compost. Shredded paper in the coop works fine for me, and when I clean out the coop and dump the litter into the chicken run, the paper disappears in no time.

I never thought of the color...I was just thinking white. I tend to picture things in my mind and then I'm shocked when reality differs.
And the Ameraucana is quite pretty, but I wondered why she wouldn't lay a blue or green egg. A boy was selling them, he said he hadn't seen any colored eggs from that batch of chickens. Maybe she is a mixed breed or maybe it just happens sometimes. I don't know much about the breed. Maybe she doesn't lay eggs, lol. That would be disappointing. But not the worst thing that could happen.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I picked up small fridge at my folks house today. They had it in the basement and weren’t using it, and our egg-splosion of production was making it hard to store any other groceries in our regular fridge.

Anyway, to get the fridge into the basement we had to clean out some extra cardboard that has been accumulated down there. Tape was removed, cardboard shredded, and the compost heap got a nice dose of carbon (about 1 1/2 lawn and leaf bags full).

 

[gtaus]

Hmmmm... Might be time to experiment with this idea...

Yes, find out what works for you. In any case, shredded paper will not last very long as it decomposes very fast - especially when it gets wet after a rain.

 

[gtaus]

And the Ameraucana is quite pretty, but I wondered why she wouldn't lay a blue or green egg.

Ameraucana's typically lay blue or green eggs, but some lay brown eggs. My Ameraucana lays beautiful green eggs but nobody other than me will eat green eggs. I blame Dr. Seuss.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

And I prefer composting paper to recycling - involves a lot less transportation, and while we’d all like to think everything we put in the bin gets recycled, I imagine the percentage is much lower.

Plus, with composting, I get to keep the nutrients myself!

 

[gtaus]

Tape was removed, cardboard shredded, and the compost heap got a nice dose of carbon (about 1 1/2 lawn and leaf bags full).

How do you shred your cardboard? My paper shredder will shred light cardboard, like a cereal box, but heavy box cardboard is too much. Right now we recycle our "heavy" cardboard, but I'm all for shredding it at home if I find a good way to do it.

 

[gtaus]

and while we’d all like to think everything we put in the bin gets recycled, I imagine the percentage is much lower.

Back in the 1990's, I lived in Minneapolis. We had to separate all our waste items into separate bins. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune sent a reporter out to follow what really happens to all the separated waste, going to the recycle center. Turned out, all those waste items, carefully separated into bins, where hauled out to a landfill and just dumped into a big common pile. None of it was recycled. Lots of people were upset about that.

I, too, would like to think that recycling waste products has improved, but maybe it has not. I do know that if I shred our paper products at home and throw them out into the chicken coop or directly into the compost bin, that paper is definitely recycled.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

How do you shred your cardboard? My paper shredder will shred light cardboard, like a cereal box, but heavy box cardboard is too much. Right now we recycle our "heavy" cardboard, but I'm all for shredding it at home if I find a good way to do it.

I don’t shred it like paper shredder fine...just go at it with my hands and a utility knife. It’s bigger “chunks” of carbon, but I think a variety like that is good for the pile.

They’re bigger than shredded paper, bigger than a leaf, smaller than a wood chip.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

It reached the balmy mid-30’s today. I threw 6-7 barrels of leaves and hay on the pile and turned the end of the pile over.

Man, the steam coming off the pile! And the worms and other snacks had the flock all kinds of excited.

We’re headed for higher temps later this week, mid-50’s, so I wanted to get some carbon on the pile to avoid odor issues (especially with more food waste coming tomorrow).

 

[vpatt]

Did someone say that Amazon boxes tape and all were ok to use? Or possibly I dreamed about that.