Composting recommendations?

[NancyNurseCxMama]

I think we are going to see if we have hardware cloth left over when we finish putting the roof on the run and I might use that for a compost bin---I am looking for easy at this point!

 

[CapricornFarm]

You might check the gardening threads, might have info there on the topic.

 

[IamRainey]

I don't know much about chickens yet but I do know composting.

Most compost containers are way too expensive unless you can gather free pallets and make your own. I have been using something like this, however, for the last 20 years. They're very affordable and you can connect 2-3 of them to make big piles. And, let me tell you, the bigger the pile is the less work it is and the more effectively it works to make better humous. 3' x 3' x 3' is what you will see referred to in the literature all the time, but unless you've balanced everything in a pile that size it's never going to generate the temperatures you want to get the good stuff.

I keep 4 piles that are each 2-3 times a cubic yard. They're perfectly passive, heat up to 115˚ -- which is the target temp you want to burn off any weed seeds -- are "balanced" only by what I have to discard and, come Spring I just open one of my piles and get pretty close to a cubic yard of black gold.

 

[LovesAGoodYolk]

also your pile should be equal parts of green material, dry material and moisture. if you have a small tractor with a blade on the front, just push the pile around once a month or so to stir it up and get air inside.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

We do have a small tractor with a blade---we can do that.

 

[TalkALittle]

There's lots of options for composting. The key us to find the method that bests suits you and your situation. How much time do you want to spend monitoring and maintaining the compost? How much space do you want to devote to a compost area? How soon and frequently do you want compost and in what quantities. What volume of poop do your birds produce?

In general, a tumbler is great for producing small amounts rather quickly. Also good for "finishing off" partially composted material from passive compost piles.

Passive piles/bins are great if you've got large volumes of material and the space and time to just let it sit. Place a few pvc drainage pipes through the pile as you build it to allow aeration, water it if you're in an area with little rainfall and you'll be good to go in a couple years. I've got 3 bins going now. One that is curing, one that is cooking, and one that I'm adding new material to.

Deep litter in the run puts the chickens to work for you. Harvested material from the run may still need some finishing off in either a pile or tumbler.

 

[Ohmyheart]

I just pile it all up in a corner of the yard. Every now and again I might mix it up a little. I've been doing it like that for years and have some very rich dark compost from it.

 

[aart]

Anyone here have any loves/hates regarding composting?

I hate it and much prefer that someone else do it
All the poops sifted off my poop boards go to my buddies and they compost it.
They have a 3 bin deal made out of cinder blocks with open fronts,
not sure how that really works out for them as they are pretty loose with it.

ETA: to be clear.... thinks composting is great, but I have never had much luck with it.

 

[IamRainey]

I LOVE composting!

First of all, I have the kind of clay soil that early Californians made adobe bricks AKA freakin' building materials out of, so I need all the compost I can get. It's taken me 20 years of composting to turn my planting beds into arable soil. But now I can plant 18" down in some of them with just a trowel or even my hands.

Second, I'm soooo much better at making dirt than I am at gardening.

Third, it's really impressive to put in some tangled root that you can't get through with a pruning saw and then break it up with your bare hands a year later.

Fourth, there's something wonderful about the way the finished humus smells. So earthy. So fundamental. So real. So full of promise.

And, fifth, and NOT insignificant at my point in life (70), it gives me a really profound sense of peace that I know things aren't over when you die. I don't have any idea what will come next but the very worst case is I'll be fodder for some daisies or food for the worms that will fertilize them. And that makes me happy. It really does.

 

[Ronnie2]

A good point there yogifink, but I'm a lazy Old want-a-be-farmer. I got to go check on my honeybees this morning after my coffee to check on any mite problems, and see about getting any honey from the spring flow. I don't like to to take the honey off in May, because I don't want to feed them all summer. Our fall flow will be starting in October, so they will be able to feed themselves through the winter months. Old, Lazy & tired!