Composting in the chicken run?

[Henrik Petersson]

Choose your own method. But, it seems counter intuitive to me to go to great lengths to keep the chicken poo out of the run, where it will mix in with all of the high carbon materials that you are putting into that run, and it will feed the micro and macro organisms while it speeds the breakdown process. Why separate the chicken poop out of the mix, and worry about them having contact with it, when there are copious amounts of it in the bedding right in the coop? They have plenty of contact with their own poo right there!!! Also, I DL in the coop AND in the run, so it makes no sense for me to spend the extra time and effort hauling that coop bedding all the way through the run to some distant compost pile, when it can compost right there in the run. I will clarify, that I would never put dog or cat poo in the coop or run. I would put poo from hooved animals and turkeys in the run.

Good discussion, HP. An other aspect of poo management that is discussed in great length in Harvey Ussery's book, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers, is to pay close attention to your soil nutrient levels. It's possible to overload your soil with Phosphorous. Particularly if you have a flock that is larger than your property can manage. He lays out management plans to help deal with that issue. Also important to see to it that we don't have nutrient run off that can have an adverse effect on plant and animal life down stream from us.

There isn't really a copius amount of poo in the coop, because we clean the poop board and the chickens are almost only inside to sleep. But you arguments still hold.

Your distinction about different types of poo is interesting. Can I put duck poo in the chicken run? I guess I can't put compost in the duck pen? Ducks, after all, don't scratch...

Thanks for the book tip!

Edit: I just found out there is a law in my country (Sweden) that food scraps have to be kept in one of those big plastic compost barrels. So the compost in the run has to contain other things (poop, wood shavings, leaves, grass cuttings, etc).

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Can you get around that law by putting the food scraps in the run for the chickens to eat? I find that law amusing. What's the distinction between the broccoli that you remove from your kitchen b/c it's no longer fresh enough to serve for dinner, and the broccoli that you cut down in your garden b/c it's overgrown? Both are plant material, and both would do well to feed chickens or a compost heap! (General rule of thumb is to not put meat products into a compost b/c of the likelihood of it attracting vermin or predators.) But, I do give meat scraps to my birds. I see no reason why you couldn't put duck poo in the chicken run. I haven't dealt with ducks for more than 30 years. So, I don't know if they dibble in compost or not. I would guess that they would.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Can you get around that law by putting the food scraps in the run for the chickens to eat? I find that law amusing. What's the distinction between the broccoli that you remove from your kitchen b/c it's no longer fresh enough to serve for dinner, and the broccoli that you cut down in your garden b/c it's overgrown? Both are plant material, and both would do well to feed chickens or a compost heap! (General rule of thumb is to not put meat products into a compost b/c of the likelihood of it attracting vermin or predators.) But, I do give meat scraps to my birds. I see no reason why you couldn't put duck poo in the chicken run. I haven't dealt with ducks for more than 30 years. So, I don't know if they dibble in compost or not. I would guess that they would.

I also find the law a bit weird, and don't know whether you can bypass it. There might come inspectors and fine you, so I want to play it safe.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[chickensonblue]

Do you put your compost in a pile, can, tumbler...?

 

[myfivegirls]

I have Muscovy ducks living with my chickens, so their poop gets mixed in with everything else. They don't scratch or dig in the compost, most like trample it! Lol
Actually they love "working" with the chickens b/c the chickens dig & unearth worms which the ducks grab to eat! They also put their bills in the (working) compost searching for treats themselves.
I've basically layered compost material on top of the run (as it's huge sq ft-age) & after awhile, make piles to compost faster.

 

[lurch1014]

I also add leaves and such into my run. Makes for great compost later and can also be helpful for drying out an area. The chickens love scratching at it and I'm sure eat any bugs hidden amongst the leaves etc. Worms too anything that may get scooped up with the leaves. Sometimes I will put wood shavings in during the winter to help keep the chickens warm and dry because my fiancee is allergic to hay. I may try straw but I'm worried she will be allergic to that as well. Anyway these things make great compost later on and the chickens love playing in it. I clean in out as needed. It goes in a pile behind the coop in the yard and we have a separate compost pile for regular compost such as eggshells, vegetable scraps that I don't feed the chickens, coffee grounds, shells, leaves, grass clippings etc. Then when I want to add some to the garden or something, I simply take from each pile and mix the two together. Don't really have any special reason for doing it separately that's just how I do it. I'm also currently brewing some chicken poop tea, a great natural liquid fertilizer for plants.