Composting for Dummies

[fickla01]

New to chickens and I have a compost question. Point me to some articles or videos you like as I've been searching and am still just as confused and feel really stupid!

My run is not big enough (yet!) to do any type of composting in the run. Right now it's grass that's turning into dirt, but I'll be filling it with sand. I have poop boards under my roosting bars that I'm loving for how easy it is to keep it clean with just 2min of scooping every few days. At this time I'm not doing the deep litter method.

From what I gathered, I will need at least 2 designated piles. One I'm dumping new stuff into and the other I"m letting sit.
But what I'm super confused about is do I need to cover either pile? And if not, how is it not attracting animals if I'm throwing fruit peels and stuff in there?

I've read to water it. Is that only when I decide it's "full" and I'm ready to leave it sit for a few months?
Do I need to turn the pile(s) with a fork on a regular basis, or only the sitting one?
Can the piles be near the coop or should it be far away from the house and the coop?
If I expand my run next year and have a pile in the run for the chickens to scratch through, do you then close off the sitting pile so they can't get to it??

Oh and I'm in MN so I assume in the winter there's no action going on with the compost piles? Do I just save all the poop from the droppings board then into my big bucket and dump it for a new pile in the spring?

 

[rosemarythyme]

How much compost are you looking to generate?

I use bins (the 2 black boxes in front) to keep things tidy, keep animals out, keep odors down. These are sitting about 50' in front of my driveway. But if you want to compost a lot, bins aren't very cost effective. The way I manage it is each bin is offset by a year, so my compost sits for roughly a year. So I fill one bin for a year, then empty it out in spring as I begin filling the other one for the next year.

If using bins yes you need to stir them up and water them during dry spells to keep things going (if it starts stinking a lot, needs more aeration and/or more carbon).

Any "composting" I do in the run is simply from chickens scratching up their deep litter, and nowadays I use the run litter to generate "dirt" for pots or whatnot by sifting out any big chunks, add some cheap soil and voila, potting mix.

 

[fickla01]

Thank you. I actually don't really need much compost, I just want to get rid of their poop! It doesn't matter to me how long it takes for it to actually compost.

 

[FloorCandy]

Thank you. I actually don't really need much compost, I just want to get rid of their poop! It doesn't matter to me how long it takes for it to actually compost.

Have you looked into compost tumblers? I bought one that has 2 separate compartments, so you fill one and let it compost while you fill the other. You spin it every day when you’re in the yard, and it’s supposed to speed up the process quite significantly. I just bought 1 this year, it’s been about 6 weeks or so. I filled one side in like 3 days, with deep litter from moving my pens, and grass clippings, with a few days of peelings, and kitchen scraps. I sealed it up and peak at it every couple weeks and it looks like it’s going great so far, and it’s still cold outside, not ideal composting temps. There’s a lot of black in there, with some wood chips and long grasses still visible but clearly decaying.

 

[SimTam]

Thank you. I actually don't really need much compost, I just want to get rid of their poop! It doesn't matter to me how long it takes for it to actually compost.

Sound to me you're a closet deep litter dude looking for a problem that doesn't exist.

Deep litter for the win

 

[BigBlueHen53]

New to chickens and I have a compost question. Point me to some articles or videos you like as I've been searching and am still just as confused and feel really stupid!

My run is not big enough (yet!) to do any type of composting in the run. Right now it's grass that's turning into dirt, but I'll be filling it with sand. I have poop boards under my roosting bars that I'm loving for how easy it is to keep it clean with just 2min of scooping every few days. At this time I'm not doing the deep litter method.

From what I gathered, I will need at least 2 designated piles. One I'm dumping new stuff into and the other I"m letting sit.
But what I'm super confused about is do I need to cover either pile? And if not, how is it not attracting animals if I'm throwing fruit peels and stuff in there?

I've read to water it. Is that only when I decide it's "full" and I'm ready to leave it sit for a few months?
Do I need to turn the pile(s) with a fork on a regular basis, or only the sitting one?
Can the piles be near the coop or should it be far away from the house and the coop?
If I expand my run next year and have a pile in the run for the chickens to scratch through, do you then close off the sitting pile so they can't get to it??

Oh and I'm in MN so I assume in the winter there's no action going on with the compost piles? Do I just save all the poop from the droppings board then into my big bucket and dump it for a new pile in the spring?

The last time I had a successful composting system was several years ago, in New Mexico. I can't seem to get one going here in MO but I'm still trying. Here's what I did that worked. I had three areas, each 4x4x4'h, blocked off from each other but side by side. They were three-sided and open at the front and top. At the time I had horses as well as chickens. These "bins" were not too close to the house, which was a good thing, as on at least two occasions they got unbalanced (too wet) and became very stinky for a while. I started with the first bin, layering horse manure, old hay, food scraps and chicken manure mixed with straw. As I layered, I spritzed with water just enough to dampen slightly. I tried to pile it up to 4' high. It was my understanding that it needed to be this big in order to generate the heat needed to start breaking down

After a couple of weeks during which it settled considerably, you could insert a hand and feel the heat. A month or so later, when it had cooled, my DD and I went out and turned it with pitchforks into the second bin, and began building another pile in the first bin.

Again, the pile heated up and cooled down, shrinking in the process. Several weeks later we turned it into the third bin to repeat the process. Summer was almost over and the pile smelled and looked like sweet, fresh black dirt on a forest floor. I wanted to roll in it! We put it on the raspberries and grape vines. It was pretty enough to sell.

I don't have horses here. I don't have bins. I can't get things "cooking." I can't seem to figure out the formula again. I've lost the magic. But that's what worked for me once and I know I can do it again. Just don't get it too wet or let it dry out. Good luck!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

@BigBlueHen53 - It sounds like you're considering the key elements of successful composting...the mix of materials, moisture levels, and pile size.

What is happening in your system? Not getting hot and slow decomposition? Horse manure IS an amazing compost ingredient, adding a lot of microbial life to the system, but certainly isn't required.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I don't have a system here. I don't have enough of anything to get started.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I don't have a system here. I don't have enough of anything to get started.

Ah, OK...I read the post to mean that your composting efforts worked at your old location but not at the new one...it's just that you're not doing it at the new location. Gotcha!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Ah, OK...I read the post to mean that your composting efforts worked at your old location but not at the new one...it's just that you're not doing it at the new location. Gotcha!

Yes.