Composting litter

[nightshade]

I was just think that would be a great idea !

 

[cheeptrick]

I've noticed that if I don't shake up/rake the litter in my coop every couple days I get flies...so every couple days I add DE when I rake/shake up the litter. It smells so good after I rake it all up releasing the pine shaving scent! So I wonder if this would prevent the beneficial insects from coming to my compost? It looks fine...like Nifty Chicken's!
We just finished building a nice addition/egg laying side for our coop. It's kind of like a saltbox! I'll be posting pictures when I'm done with the trim...lots of measuring and cutting and nailing! Next tool purchase; an automatic nailer gun!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I think the manure is a bit too potent. If the pile is too wet a lot of nitrogen blows off as ammonia before it gets to do its thing. The first pile I made was just pine shaving and manure from the coop and it heated to 160 degs within hours and took a week to cool down.


Quote:
Composting is really a two step process. There is the initial portion where the nitrogen loving buggies do their thing and generate all the heat and a second cooler portion where the larger organisms invade the pile and munch on what remains. You just have to add the worms after the pile has cooled down and let them continue the process. Or build a worm bed into the yard and build the pile over it. The worms will be driven deep by the heat but come up into the pile as it cools.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Quote:
Yeah... my problem is my compost is on a cement slab. Great for clean up / management, but not super easy for worms to escape into the soil.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Where did you get your worms from? Mail order?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

They just appear in the pile so I know they can get to / from the compost bin. I just know I'm not making it easy for them.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Your soil must be better than ours then, I can dig all day long and not see a worm here. The soil is just too heavy in clay. I doubt they are crawling their way into the bin. They are probably hatching from eggs in soil you have added to the bin.

I've been looking for a source of redworms around here to make a worm bed near the compost pile. Only thing I can get locally is nightcrawlers. I've seen places online that ship them though...

 

[CtlisencedArborist]

Deep litter all the way!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

We really need some members to use the Personal Pages tool to write pages with pictures and descriptions of the Deep Litter method so I can add them to the site.

Any volunteers?

 

[Agilityscots]

Quote:
YES!! I would LOVE that, Nifty!!

Amy