Composting chicken run

[Sally PB]

pee on the pile!

I do that too. Healthy human urine is sterile and a good source of nitrogen.

Men's urine contains more testosterone (obviously) and can be a deterrent to rabbits, deer, etc., that like to "bother" the garden. I've asked my husband to pee around the garden, but he won't. It's secluded enough that the neighbors wouldn't see.

 

[Cryss]

Basically, it's that simple. I have my chicken run compost spread evenly in the run, but at the end of last fall, the compost was about 18 inches deep. There were layers of wood chips, leaves, grass clippings, with kitchen scrap leftovers throw in for good measure. I suspect most, if not all, the kitchen scraps were eaten by the chickens. But I am not afraid to throw in leftover chicken bones, steak bones, etc... into my run and the bones obviously will take longer to compost.

If you do not pile the compost material, it will just break down more slowly. If you want to speed things up, then pile it up in a bin or wire cage. Since my chicken run is outside and exposed to the rain, I don't bother watering it down. But again, if you keep the compost material damp it will break down faster.

Last fall I bought a cement mixer, attached a wire cage to the end, and used that to sift my compost material. I had one screen that was 1/4 inch which makes really fine compost for seed starting. I have another screen that is 1/2 inch and I use that sifted compost for the garden beds. As I said, my chicken run compost was about 18 inches deep last fall. I would just use a pitchfork to throw in a scoop full of compost into the tumbler, and the finished compost would drop into one wheelbarrow and the unfinished compost would be recycled back into the run, or into my pallet compost bins.

As someone said, the top few inches might not be broken down enough yet, but underneath you get black gold. My cement mixer setup with attachments cost me about $200. Over the course of a few days, I sifted more than enough compost to pay for my investment. IIRC, I used to pay about $5.00 per cubic foot of compost at the big box store. Anyway, it takes me about 20 minutes to sift 6 cubic feet of my chicken run compost which is much better than what I had been buying at the big box store.

I'm getting older (60+ now), so I don't work too fast. Still, with the cement mixer sifter, I could make 18 cubic feet of compost per hour - about $120 per hour saved in compost costs if I would have bought the bags from the big box store. I made so much compost last fall that I ended up giving some away to my good neighbors for their raised beds. What's more, is that I barely touched all the compost in the chicken run. So I will have access to that black gold anytime I want to sift out some more compost for the garden.

There are many ways to make faster compost than just throwing everything into the chicken run, but I quickly got to the point where I have more compost ready to be harvested than I can actually use. The great advantage to just letting everything lie in place in the chicken run is that I don't have to bother with watering the pile and turning it over to keep it composting. I just let Mother Nature do it's work over a longer period of time, let the chickens turn the compost in the run as they search for food, and the only time I do anything is when I get to the point of sifting the compost for use.

I would love to see your compost run set up and the mixer. Any chance you have videos?

 

[JCaseyHammond]

I have a small 10 inch tiller attachment that attaches to a 40v weed eater power head. It is perfect for things like turning over compost in the run. I used that method myself when I first started composting in the chicken run and the litter was only 4-6 inches deep. When my chicken run compost got to be 18 inches deep, the mini tiller only fluffs up the top 4 inches.

But yes, my mini tiller is faster, does a better job in tilling, and saves my back. Just make sure the chickens are not around the tiller when in use. Even using a pitchfork requires care not to accidently stab a chicken running underneath you. I prefer to do any tilling, or turning, before I let the chickens out of their coop in the morning.

If your compost is too deep, then you might get clumps of compost stuck between the tiller tines and the splash plate above the tines. That happened to me a lot and cleaning out the jam was a pain in the butt. I ended up taking off the guard and now it works much better and does not clog up all the time. I think that it is safe for digging in compost to remove the guard, but I would not recommend removing the guard if tilling in soil where there a much greater chance of throwing stones back up towards your face.

A standard garden fork used for digging would work in compost, but a better option is a 4 or 5 tine hay fork. I bought a long handle 5 tine hay fork and it is much better for working in compost than my garden fork. Dear Wife does not understand why I have a short handle 4 tine garden fork, a long handle 5 tine hay fork, and a 10 tine manure fork. I use them all, but for different jobs.

At 18 inches deep, my chicken run compost is now too deep to turn it over either manually or with a tiller. But I don't worry about it because I layer nitrogen and carbon sources as I built up the litter. It never smells.

I had a 4-tine hay fork handy, so I tried it. Happy turning and loosening a section of compost-dressed soil that got rained on. Worked great, thanks!
Edited to add photo

 

[gtaus]

As you can see, it’s sizable and I’m going to be busy.

Yes, if you don't automate your compost harvesting, I hope you will update us on how your manual sifting is working. That will be a lot of compost to process.

 

[gtaus]

I would love to see your compost run set up and the mixer. Any chance you have videos?

Bought a cement mixer on sale at the local Fleet store.

Added a plastic barrel with 1 x 1/2 inch welded wire to the cement mixer to make a compost sifter.

I can put different sized wire mesh inside the sifting barrel depending on how fine I want to sift the compost. I use a 1/4 inch mesh for potting soil compost, and a 1/2 inch mesh for compost to the garden. The finished compost sifts into the wagon underneath the wire, and the larger, unfinished compost goes into the other wagon.

My chicken run is nothing much to look at, and especially now it is under one foot of snow. Sorry, no videos of my machine in action but you can probably find similar setups on YouTube. That is where I got my idea for this mixer.

 

[gtaus]

I do that too. Healthy human urine is sterile and a good source of nitrogen.

Men's urine contains more testosterone (obviously) and can be a deterrent to rabbits, deer, etc., that like to "bother" the garden. I've asked my husband to pee around the garden, but he won't. It's secluded enough that the neighbors wouldn't see.

But don't eat the yellow "pees." Sorry, we all learn not eat the yellow snow around here....

 

[BReeder!]

Yes, if you don't automate your compost harvesting, I hope you will update us on how your manual sifting is working. That will be a lot of compost to process.

I don't "process" most of my compost here. Anything in the run gets piled up into a bin eventually and mixed with leaves, wood shavings, manure, garden and yard waste and kitchen scraps. That heats up, gets turned a few times, and eventually cools off. After cooking it sits a bit to cure until I add it to the garden beds. Choose compost add texture to break up my heavy soil.
I only screen compost for use in potted plants and seedling trays (mixed with other materials in either case). If I was going to use it on the lawn I would screen it also, but I haven't spread compost in the lawn at all.

 

[gtaus]

I would love to see your compost run set up and the mixer. Any chance you have videos?

Here is one of the YouTube videos I watched.

If you are considering making a cement mixer compost sifter, I would suggest you look at my modifications to the design which require no drilling into the cement barrel. I think that my design is better if you ever plan on using or selling your cement mixer because it will not have any holes drilled in it.

 

[gtaus]

I don't "process" most of my compost here.

Yeah, if you don't process your compost, then you avoid one big step that requires a lot of work. I have considered not processing some of my finished compost and just using it as a top dressing. But the processed/sifted compost is really nice for potting plants, the barrels, and the raised beds. I also use the sifted compost as top fill on my lawn where I have some low spots. I hope to gradually build them up to level. Need to just cover the low spot with enough compost but still let the grass grow through it. I think unsifted compost might mat down and kill the grass.

 

[BReeder!]

Yeah, if you don't process your compost, then you avoid one big step that requires a lot of work. I have considered not processing some of my finished compost and just using it as a top dressing. But the processed/sifted compost is really nice for potting plants, the barrels, and the raised beds. I also use the sifted compost as top fill on my lawn where I have some low spots. I hope to gradually build them up to level. Need to just cover the low spot with enough compost but still let the grass grow through it. I think unsifted compost might mat down and kill the grass.

You are right about the grass and the potted plants. As for raised beds or any garden beds though, unsifted Donaghy compost acts as a fertilizer and a mulch all at once. The course compost makes it difficult for weeds to grow through while still leaching nutrients into the soil for your plants roots to access.