Composting...

[CreveChris]

Question:
I am planning to start compost in my chicken run this summer! Moving from my 3 crate system.
If all these worms are attracted to the run, is there any danger to the chickens? I thought I read somewhere that worms can carry disease that is harmful to chickens. Which doesn’t make sense to me…I thought worms were good. Pardon my ignorance!
Also, I put a ton of banana peels, coffee grounds, potato skins, avocado pits & peels, and onion peels in my current compost. Are those safe to throw in with the chickens, or do I need to compost them separately?
Thank you! This is a great thread! Even bought a cheap paper shredder.

I compost separately (or toss into the forest for wildlife, usually). Chickens may trust me too much and I don't betray their trust. Jmho

 

[CreveChris]

Raw potato skins, avocado pits, avocado peels are all not chicken friendly. Not so sure about onion and coffee grounds. I wouldn't want to give my chickens the coffee ground my though due to the caffeine at the least. Coffee grounds can go directly on the garden if you want though.

As for worms, I have also heard of threats they can carry. What I heard was they can host parasites and transfer them to the chickens. That said, there are certainly worms among other insects attracted to my run thanks to the leaf litter. I don't feed worms to my chickens, but they are likely to them and snack on them.

I grow silkworms (eggs grown and worms tested in a lab) a couple of times a year, but earthworms are a rare treat they find on their own. They can carry parasites, for sure. I don't do deep litter here in Florida, but use sand. Not many worms like the coop/run because it's really dry.

 

[CreveChris]

Do you clean poop out of the coop in a separate manner? I have 9 chickens, and I can fill a 5 gallon bucket with poop from their poop board in about 2 weeks. Chickens poop A LOT. If all of their poop is going into the run, you might be surprised how much poop there actually is mixed into all that bedding you mentioned. If the majority of their poop (produced while roosting typically) is being removed and dealt with separately, then I would agree with your statements above that the run likely contains little poop in perspective to a 12-18 inches of bedding.

That said, all of our chicken poop from the poop boards go to a traditional compost pile. When I muck the run it too goes into a pile, although a bit less necessary.

There's also parasites and other nasties like harmful bacteria (E. Coli to name one) to consider. When applying run bedding directly to the garden as compost, these harmful organisms are distributed to your garden beds. Hot composting may help reduce or eliminate these harmful organism (there are of course various factors to consider, temperature of the pile being a key factor for sure). I imagine freezing winter temps may help eliminate some harmful organisms also, so perhaps it's not so bad to apply in late Fall or early Winter. I've honestly not done much research on that bit. My biggest concerns though would be E. Coli and various parasitic worms. If winter freeze takes care of these in the upper part of the soil, then I say your method is safe. That's an unknown factor for me though. Guess what I'll be googling later...

My small flock prefers the roof of the tiny hut inside their open air coop (Florida). I rake using an industrial gravel rake and scoop using a sifter. It's some work, but I don't mind it because the area is large and full of hanging plants along the sides.

First Saturday Lime is spread daily on the roof and scooped areas inside and out of the hut under roosts. It's really easy to see and remove poop, which sticks mostly to the lime and cleans up nicely. It's a 10-minute daily chore.

 

[Wolfie2]

I know very little about composting and I have been working on it, off & on, for years. One thing I know for certain is...I will never be able to build a conventional compost pile on the ground. Where I live we have a non-native insect we call fire ants. These are ants that will build a nest under just about anything that lays on the ground for more than a few days. A styrofoam coffee cup, a board, a pile of leaves and chicken poop. and if you disturb it there will be thousands (not kidding) coming out to defend their nest. Each one will try to sting you and each that is successful will leave a painful, small, puss filled sore that will itch like crazy and not heal for a week. Not kidding!
Built many compost piles, some on top of pallets & other things to keep it off the ground. They will build a nest under it and eventually invade the pile. I have tried the commercially produced tumblers but none are big enough to do much composting. They did not attract the ants but were not good @ composting due to their small size.
The best I have ever done is what I am working with now. It is one of the commercial trash bins, about 4' tall, that get picked up with a hydraulic arm on the truck. Big enough to get a good decomposition going but secure enough that I have not had an ant infestation (yet). I just put whatever I cut, pull up,scrounge into it, Including the poop containing material from under the roost in the coop. I also am using one of the small tumblers that will start a compost but will not finish I think, again, because of it's size. I just add the contents to the bigger trash can when it gets full. I do spread a tarp out on occasion and empty the container, mix it up and return it to the container. Seems to help, like "turning the pile"
I just used a container of it but it took a year and it was not "compost". It was partially decomposed plant material. But it made a good mulch and I'm sure it was chock full of organic matter that will help the soil, attract earthworms ( it even had a few worms in it and I don't think I put them there) and do great things for the garden!
I will continue working on my method of composting and maybe get to where I can make more than a 50 gal. container per year.
Wishin you luck in your endeavor!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Back before chickens and when I had a postage stamp of property, I just composted in a trash can. It's not fancy, you can't turn it, but it works. I'd add material until it got full, cap it off with some soil, and start on the next barrel. After a year of "rest", I'd plant right into the barrel in spring.

I grew some pretty impressive tomatoes and jalapenos in compost buckets.

 

[BReeder!]

I know very little about composting and I have been working on it, off & on, for years. One thing I know for certain is...I will never be able to build a conventional compost pile on the ground. Where I live we have a non-native insect we call fire ants. These are ants that will build a nest under just about anything that lays on the ground for more than a few days. A styrofoam coffee cup, a board, a pile of leaves and chicken poop. and if you disturb it there will be thousands (not kidding) coming out to defend their nest. Each one will try to sting you and each that is successful will leave a painful, small, puss filled sore that will itch like crazy and not heal for a week. Not kidding!
Built many compost piles, some on top of pallets & other things to keep it off the ground. They will build a nest under it and eventually invade the pile. I have tried the commercially produced tumblers but none are big enough to do much composting. They did not attract the ants but were not good @ composting due to their small size.
The best I have ever done is what I am working with now. It is one of the commercial trash bins, about 4' tall, that get picked up with a hydraulic arm on the truck. Big enough to get a good decomposition going but secure enough that I have not had an ant infestation (yet). I just put whatever I cut, pull up,scrounge into it, Including the poop containing material from under the roost in the coop. I also am using one of the small tumblers that will start a compost but will not finish I think, again, because of it's size. I just add the contents to the bigger trash can when it gets full. I do spread a tarp out on occasion and empty the container, mix it up and return it to the container. Seems to help, like "turning the pile"
I just used a container of it but it took a year and it was not "compost". It was partially decomposed plant material. But it made a good mulch and I'm sure it was chock full of organic matter that will help the soil, attract earthworms ( it even had a few worms in it and I don't think I put them there) and do great things for the garden!
I will continue working on my method of composting and maybe get to where I can make more than a 50 gal. container per year.
Wishin you luck in your endeavor!

Does the can have drainage? And do you add water? Keeping compost moist but not too moist is important

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I don't have leaves really to add to compost. We just have dumb elm trees, they have tiny leaves they drop all year round, so there is nothing to collect really. Unless I take them out of the pool.
What else can I use?

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I don't have leaves really to add to compost. We just have dumb elm trees, they have tiny leaves they drop all year round, so there is nothing to collect really. Unless I take them out of the pool.
What else can I use?

Hay, straw, wood chips, sawdust, pine straw, shredded paper or cardboard, spent pine shaving bedding…a few options.

The best option is whatever you can get free or cheap. I’ve been known to rake up leaves in a neighbors yard when I need more carbon for my piles.

 

[Iluveggers]

Hay, straw, wood chips, sawdust, pine straw, shredded paper or cardboard, spent pine shaving bedding…a few options.

The best option is whatever you can get free or cheap. I’ve been known to rake up leaves in a neighbors yard when I need more carbon for my piles.

Yup, I bagged 4 bags of my neighbors leaves this year! She was happy to see them go!

 

[BReeder!]

I don't have leaves really to add to compost. We just have dumb elm trees, they have tiny leaves they drop all year round, so there is nothing to collect really. Unless I take them out of the pool.
What else can I use?

Your chicken bedding is a likely source unless you just have sand. But wood shavings or straw would work as brown matter in compost. Wood chips are great too, but take a while in the compost pile. I had a mega pileat one point because with wood chips I kept the pile going a whole year. It was a hot pile that I turned occasionally and eventually it broke down into good compost. I used shredded tree limbs like what a tree service would have, but from my own chipper.