Composting deep litter - does it need to be covered?

[MotherCharlotte]

Hi everyone,
We are complete beginners. The house we just bought had a chicken barn with a nice thick layer of old deep litter. After we removed the dry straw layer from the top, there was a layer about 8" thick of moist mostly composted stuff that was almost black. There was no unpleasant odour at all - I was impressed.

We carted it out in wheelbarrow loads and dumped it in a big pile this past weekend. We are planning on letting it mellow for the winter and then laying it out in the field where we want to grow vegetables in the spring.

My question is, can I just let the pile sit there or is it important to cover it so it doesn't get rained on? We have a tarp we could put over it but I don't want to block the air flow either. I'm new to composting as well!

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I'm still pretty new here!

 

[mickey328]

Hi Charlotte, and welcome!

If you want to use your compost in the spring, I'd recommend tarping it. Without a cover if might get either too wet from rain or too dry from sun. Compost is most active when it's just moist, so with a tarp, you can check it every couple of days and add water if necessary. It WILL compost if you just leave it, but it'll take longer.

We have both "active" and "leave alone" piles. For stuff we want to use quickly, we turn it fairly frequently and make sure the moisture content is right. For the other stuff, we just pretty much leave it be...turn it maybe twice a year...more if it gets really stinky. It also makes a decent mulch as it lays there, LOL

 

[MotherCharlotte]

Sounds like good advice Mickey, thank you!