Composting coop litter

[Birdsonghill]

I left out I also do a little chicken run "composting" utilizing the litter from the house floor and misc. plant materials but not too much due to our heavy and extended periods of rain making the deteriorating waste a sodden stinking mess full of gnats, if you put a lot of material in at one time here. If I had a rain proof roof over the wire enclosed runs instead of a bit of tin roofing over less than half the enclosed run, I might could do that better. Compost is garden gold.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Do any of you put hardwood ash from your fireplaces into your compost, and if so, how much? If not, why not? What do you do with your wood ash?

 

[Birdsonghill]

I do not put ashes in my compost. In my area the soil is very rich in phosphorus and potash naturally. the PH is the key to unlocking it's availability for the plants to uptake. I do occasionally apply some ashes to certain beds in a rest season. Good compost helps buffer Ph problems and overcome them if not too severe. Excess ashes go on my old pasture to get rid of them and lesson the need to lime as often. Some ashes in your compost may be helpful but too much slows the process and may make a clay like slime layer that water tends to shed off from. Incorporate them into a few feet of compost materials for best results. Making Bio char out of the wood and distributing it will be much more beneficial than dumping loads of wood ashes. Remember to keep the compost pile friendly to bio organisms for healthier, faster and more effective compost. Aerobic decomposition is what we want and too much of a concentrated ash or lawn pesticides or other strong additions may lesson the healthy effects of decomposition/oxidation in an aerobic bio rich environment. I add my lime, ashes, calcium to the garden and my organic plant materials into my compost. I mix my coop waste litter into the top couple feet each addition to my piles and add more carbonaceous plant materials to keep a decent balance as needed/available. I usually have two or more large piles and flip them one to the other location or to the finished bin , occasionally. My piles are usually 8 to 10 feet in diameter and four feet high or more, contained in heavy fence wire that can be easily opened up or adjusted to size from 6 to 12 feet D. Best wishes for your gardens!