Composting chicken run

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

FYI, I built my chicken coop on an old boat trailer frame in front of my garage. When I was all done building it, I told Dear Wife I had to buy a pickup so I could move the coop. That is how I got my new-to-me (used) pickup.

Pickup truck, front end loader, cement mixer...you buy expensive eggs!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I’ll second using the bark in the run....I think it’s a good idea.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

If you are dumping the shredded paper outside, just try to mix it around. Otherwise, you might end up with a big pile of paper Mache if it rains and gets wet. When you mix the shredded paper into everything else, it really composts fast.

It is great that you can share your chickens with your granddaughter. Good to hear she is excited about it.

Another tip with shredded paper is to bury it into the pile a bit to avoid “confetti” flying around your run, yard, etc.

And agree on sharing composting and chickens with the youngins. My kids are 9 and almost 5, and they love micro-farming.

 

[vpatt]

I have one ISA Brown, which I think is about the same as a Red Star. She is my best egg layer. She is also the most friendly hen I have in the coop. In the morning, when I open the coop doors, she runs up to me and wants to be petted/held. The other hens just look at me and don't care much unless I have food in hand.

My Ameraucana lays nice green eggs for me. She is currently in molt so it has been about a month since I got any green eggs. But she has been a very good layer.


That's really nice. I shred my paper in my little paper shredder. The shredded paper gets thrown into the coop and mixed with everything else (wood chips, leaves). Works just fine there.

If you are dumping the shredded paper outside, just try to mix it around. Otherwise, you might end up with a big pile of paper Mache if it rains and gets wet. When you mix the shredded paper into everything else, it really composts fast.

It is great that you can share your chickens with your granddaughter. Good to hear she is excited about it.

that is a good tip about using the paper inside the coop...I didn't think about how it would do in the rain. Oh I never thought about it flying around either. Thanks, both of you!
Yes, my granddaughter Emma helped me a lot today. Since it was fairly warm I let the two Polish outside and they seemed confused about going back into their coop. Emma was able to catch them easily and put them inside for me.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I find it’ll take the new flock members a day or two (sometimes more) to figure out going back inside at night, but they get it.

Agree that Red Stars are great layers (and composters) but not as likely to go broody (which I like). My wife keeps wanting to get some Bantums to go broody and hatch out eggs, but all I can think is “pigeon eggs and clogging up a nest box - no thanks!”

 

[vpatt]

I find it’ll take the new flock members a day or two (sometimes more) to figure out going back inside at night, but they get it.

Agree that Red Stars are great layers (and composters) but not as likely to go broody (which I like). My wife keeps wanting to get some Bantums to go broody and hatch out eggs, but all I can think is “pigeon eggs and clogging up a nest box - no thanks!”

Lol, sounds like my hubby. Yes, I would like chicks but want the hen to do the work...not me. Yes and the Polish are much younger. The red is a pullet and the Ameraucana is about a year but he said she lays brown eggs he believes.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Lol, sounds like my hubby. Yes, I would like chicks but want the hen to do the work...not me. Yes and the Polish are much younger. The red is a pullet and the Ameraucana is about a year but he said she lays brown eggs he believes.

Ameraucana tend to lay colored eggs (green or blue).

Those are good ages, should get the bulk of their good egg laying years!

I'm very happy that I bought my last set of chicks back in August. "Spring chicks" is the thing people do, but you tend to get an abbreviated "first year" of eggs due to molt and/or winter slowdown. These August chicks came into lay just as the days got warmer in Feb...should get me a really nice long "1st year" of laying.

 

[gtaus]

Pickup truck, front end loader, cement mixer...you buy expensive eggs!

Yes, I suppose so. However, I use my pickup for more than just moving the chicken coop. The cement mixer compost sifter saves my old back from a hospital call, so that's the excuse there. I have yet to buy a front end loader, but again, that would be a back saver for me.

The older I get, the more tools and contraptions I buy to save my body from stress that my 20 and 30 year old body would not have bothered. For years, my father and I did almost all the yard work together just using manual labor. He passed away a few years ago, and now I find myself buying lots of things so I can do the work by myself. I still have 3 acres of property to maintain until Dear Wife and I decide to downsize and move.

But lets face it, if you want cheap eggs, just go to WalMart and pay less than $1.00 per dozen.

 

[gtaus]

Another tip with shredded paper is to bury it into the pile a bit to avoid “confetti” flying around your run, yard, etc.

That was a concern of mine when I dumped a bunch of shredded paper into the chicken run, on top of everything else, and did not bother to bury it or work it into the run compost. What I found was that the paper shreds did not really fly all over the yard. Most stayed in the chicken run. The small amount that did escape the fencing were easily enough mowed up with the riding mower. But I suppose that all depends on how much wind your chicken run gets.

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.

 

[Sally PB]

I've thought about putting shredded paper in the run. Right now, I have tarps blocking the prevailing wind, and most of any other direction too, so blowing around might not be a problem. I think Hubby might disagree about how it looks, though, so I put shredded paper in the compost, bury it, and it goes away. I recycle most of the paper waste we get, and burn some of the rest.

I haven't tried putting shredded paper directly under the roost. I scoop the poop every day, so maybe that might be a good way to "clump up" the poop. It clumps up pretty well in the pine shavings already. Hmmmm... Might be time to experiment with this idea...