Composting...

[BReeder!]

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 pita & 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.

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.

 

[gtaus]

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.

I use deep bedding in my coop. The chicken poo automagically disappears into the litter. My goal is to clean out the coop once in the spring after the snow melts, and a second time late in the fall so I can put in fresh litter in the coop for the winter. With the deep bedding I use, I could probably get by with cleaning it out only once a year, or less, if I just go by the smell. My dry deep litter method in the coop is basically smell free, so I assume it is doing good. All my coop deep litter gets dumped into the chicken run when I clean out the coop and put in fresh litter.

Years ago, I used straw, but that quickly gets wet and moldy, and I was always cleaning everything. It smelled a lot. When I got my laying hens, I switched over to using deep bedding with wood chips. Worked great for the first two years. This year I am experimenting with using paper shreds I make at home instead of using wood chips. The idea is that the paper shreds will compost faster than wood chips when I clean the coop and dump the shreds into the chicken run compost system to start composting.

So far, the paper shreds have been working great, again, no smell and the chicken poo automagically disappears into the paper shreds litter. I dump a fresh bag of paper shreds into the coop about every 2-3 weeks. The chickens fluff up the shreds enough that I have not had to do any interim cleaning.

Chickens poo a lot, but the only accumulation I ever get is under the roosts. Most of the poo disappears into the litter. If I see an accumulation of poo that needs attention, I will sometimes throw some chicken scratch over that area and the chickens themselves with scratch and peck for the treats, which turns over the litter, and takes care of the problem. Mostly, in the winter, I just dump more litter on top the old because frozen chicken poo is like cement and there is really nothing to be done with it until spring. I usually start off with about 3 inches of litter in the late fall and end up with about 12 inches of coop litter in the spring before cleaning. But I designed my coop for that method and it works great for me. Again, no smell which is the way I determine what, if any, corrective action needs to be taken.

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.

Honestly, I have never been concerned about E. Coli and/or parasitic worms. I guess I assumed the chicken run compost was safe to use if left in the garden over winter. I have only used aged compost for planting, and it seems to work for me.

I did a quick Google search and found out that E. Coli suspends dividing/growing at 32F (Freezing temp),, but will start to replicate again when it gets warmer. At 0F, E. Ecoli starts to die. Well, in northern Minnesota where I live, we typically get as low at -40F in the dead of winter. I cannot imagine any of my surface compost not being safe to use after our winters.

 

[gtaus]

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 doubt if worms would pose any danger to your chickens. In fact, I love the fact that I find lots of worms in my chicken run compost because I know the chickens love to scratch them up and eat them. Lots of good protein. Worms are good for chickens.

Also, I put a ton of banana peels, coffee grounds, potato skins, avocado pita & 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?

There is a very short list of things that you should not feed to your chicken. Advocado peels and pits are on that short list. Green potato peelings are also on the do not feed list. But a green potato skin is one that was exposed to light above ground. Any normal potato grown in the ground should be safe. Also, humans would get poisoned from eating green potato skins, which is why you would not find them in any store. You would not eat an avocado skin or pit, either. Anyway, Google the short list of things chickens cannot eat and why. Also, if you have any concerns, just dump the waste into a separate compost bin or pile. If I find moldy food in the fridge, I just toss it into my pallet compost bin. Before I had a pallet compost bin, that moldy waste food got tossed into the tall grass and woods behind the house. Let nature take care of it.

Even bought a cheap paper shredder.

I started a thread on using paper shreds as deep litter in my coop this winter. So far, my results have been excellent. I shred as much waste paper products as I can at home. Even light cardboard like cereal boxes, food boxes, etc... I have a 10 sheet shredder, so I can shred light cardboard, but even an inexpensive shredder will shred lots of normal paper and junk mail. Turn all that waste paper products into coop litter or material for the compost instead of sending it off to the recycle center or landfill.

BTW, I got my 10 sheet shredder from our local church thrift shop. I paid $5.00 for the used shredder, but new models of that are selling for $80.00 or more. So I felt I got a great deal. Also picked up a used 6 sheet shredder for only $3.00 to use as a backup. As long as they work, I don't care if they are used.

Pro tip: If you shred less paper sheets than the advertised max capacity of your shredder, the shredder will last longer. I always shred my paper as it comes in, so I never have to sit through a marathon shredding session. Also, be aware that your shredder has a max work cycle time where it needs to cool off after running constantly for maybe 5 minutes, then a 10 minute cool down period. Another good reason to shred that paper as you get it and not to let it pile up for a big job.

 

[NatJ]

Also, I put a ton of banana peels, coffee grounds, potato skins, avocado pita & 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?

I've always thrown them in with the chickens, and I've never had any problems.

The chickens don't eat everything, just like they don't eat all the wood chips or straw you might use as bedding. They pick and choose what to eat, and they are pretty good at it. (Just like people are good at eating fried chicken but not the bones, or red watermelon but not the rind: some parts just have a better texture or flavor than others.)

Chickens will eat some of the soft parts from inside the banana skins and the avocado peels. But it's common for me to see banana skins, avocado peels and pits, and onion skins sitting around uneaten.

Potato peels are safe when cooked (and chickens seem to love them that way), and safe when raw as long as they are not green (although chickens don't seem to like them very much that way.) I never see green potato peels in a chicken run: either they are buried in the bedding (with no sun exposure, they don't turn green) or they are on the surface and dry out quickly (thoroughly dry, they do not turn green either.)

 

[Iluveggers]

@BReeder! @gtaus @NatJ

Thank you so much for your detailed responses. Very helpful to a newbie at run composting!

 

[gtaus]

I've always thrown them in with the chickens, and I've never had any problems.

The chickens don't eat everything, just like they don't eat all the wood chips or straw you might use as bedding. They pick and choose what to eat, and they are pretty good at it. (Just like people are good at eating fried chicken but not the bones, or red watermelon but not the rind: some parts just have a better texture or flavor than others.)

@Iluveggers, I just wanted to add what I had previously posted and second what @NatJ just said. There are a number of people on YouTube that pick up commercial waste food from restaurants and feed it directly to their chickens. In one video, I saw the guy being asked if he takes the time to take out any food waste that is typically on the do not feed list for chickens. He also said that he does not worry about such stuff as the chickens will eat the good stuff and leave the rest. When there is a lot of food to choose from, I guess chickens are smart enough to avoid stuff they should not eat.

FWIW, I also throw out banana peels and watermelon rinds to the chickens. They do indeed eat all the flesh off the banana peels and watermelon leaving only the outer skin. I throw out onion peels to the chickens, but they typically don't eat the onions. But the peels will work themselves into the compost and breakdown, get eaten by worms, and then the chickens can eat the juicy worms when they scratch them up. Almost everything organic goes into my chicken run compost system.

Since I only have a small number of home leftovers at any one time, I will put moldy food into a separate bucket and dump that into my pallet compost bin. I consider moldy food better for the compost bin where the worms can eventually eat it. If I have any doubt about the waste food, it gets tossed into the pallet compost bin. Haivng said that, I typically feed all our leftovers and food scraps to the chickens. I am pretty good at tossing our leftovers to the chickens before they go moldy, but sometimes an item gets shoved to the back of the fridge and forgotten. Maybe a few times per year, at most, for us.

 

[Sally PB]

I have a compost bucket next to the sink. It gets most of the kitchen waste, and goes to the compost pile. Stuff for the chickens usually goes out to the chickens that day or the next day. I would sort the stuff and have two buckets, but DH would probably not. And, he would complain that there's already too much stuff on the counter as it is, and he's right.

Some things that get saved for another use: bones and certain vegetable scraps that I make into bone broth. Those get put in a ziploc bag in the freezer until I have enough stuff to make broth. After making broth, the vegetable mush and any bones I can mash with my fingers go out to the chickens. Oh my, do they love that stuff! And bone broth makes for the best soups.

 

[NatJ]

I have a compost bucket next to the sink. It gets most of the kitchen waste, and goes to the compost pile. Stuff for the chickens usually goes out to the chickens that day or the next day.

I like a similar system, but with just one bucket-- it goes to the chickens, because chicken run = compost pile for me.

I will put moldy food into a separate bucket and dump that into my pallet compost bin. I consider moldy food better for the compost bin where the worms can eventually eat it.

Moldy cheese and moldy bread have never hurt my chickens. (They haven't hurt me either, when I took a bite before I looked at the food.)

Depending on how big the piece of cheese is, I will often cut a slice off each side to remove the mold, throw those slices to the chickens, and eat the inner part myself. (I'm usually dealing with cheddar or other hard cheeses. Soft cheese might be a different case.)

The very rare times that a piece of bread or cheese looks like a ball of solid mold, I will throw it in the trash, mostly because I don't want to open the bag it's in and let a bunch of spores spread to the other bread & cheese in the house!

 

[gtaus]

and he's right.

At my house, even when I'm right, I'm still wrong, somehow....

Some things that get saved for another use: bones and certain vegetable scraps that I make into bone broth. Those get put in a ziploc bag in the freezer until I have enough stuff to make broth. After making broth, the vegetable mush and any bones I can mash with my fingers go out to the chickens. Oh my, do they love that stuff! And bone broth makes for the best soups.

Dear Wife makes excellent soup from fresh veggies and such, but your idea of the bone broth sounds great. I love soups. When we have ham on a bone, I will make a 15 bean soup with the leftover ham bone. I think I actually prefer the soup over the ham itself.

About once a week, Dear Wife will stop and pick up a rotisserie chicken at the super market. We have a few good chicken meals with that, and then the leftover bones get tossed in a pot to make chicken soup loaded up with veggies. Again, I think I prefer the chicken soup over the chicken itself.

All our scrap food bones get tossed into the chicken run compost system. The chickens will pick off any leftover meat and gristle down to the bare bone. I use a cement mixer compost sifter to harvest my chicken run compost, so old bones and sticks of wood are sifted out of the compost I will use in the garden. I just throw that stuff back into the compost system for more aging. Eventually, everything organic breaks down and I think bone meal is a good addition to the compost. Chicken bones, steak bones, ham bones, all get tossed into the chicken run for the chickens.

 

[Dlepage]

I've about given up on standard composting and fallen in love with vermicomposting (worm bin). We did a compost pile and compost tumblers but they took almost a year to compost down to usable dirt which was frustrating.

Your climate will impact your composting timing and process. When we lived in a humid climate I was constantly adding extra dry to the pile to keep it from being a soggy mess. Now that we live in an arid climate, we have to regularly moisten and turn the pile or it will dry out.

Hence the worm bins We got 500 worms from Uncle Jim's and they go through about a pound of kitchen scraps a week. Super simple, just take the scraps and blend them to be smaller then dump in the worm bin. By the next weekend if they haven't finished I cut down the amount and if they have I increase it. Gonna be adding a third bin soon to increase the yield. And the bins actually smell good, like fresh dirt.

As for if you can use what you have come spring, that depends on how it all looks. If it looks broken down and smells like a pile of dirt then you can use it. If not, then you will need more time.

Do the worms compost chicken poop?