Composting...

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Here’s a photo of the hay bake composter setup, and of the (now empty) pallet composter.

 

[gtaus]

I actually have composters made OF hay bales. I also do use loose hay when I'm low on other carbon, but I was looking for a fairly inexpensive, easy to build with, and modular building material to build composters out of.

I also have a wooden composter made of pallets that are 14' x 7'...plus lots of area in the run that is "compost in the run" areas...so I have LOTS of composting going on.

OK. I better understand now. I have been following your posts for some time and know that you, like me, are into the chicken run composting and such. Always enjoy reading your posts.

 

[gtaus]

Here’s a photo of the hay bake composter setup, and of the (now empty) pallet composter.


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Yeah, that is a very nice setup. I don't have your scale of operations, but I too have found success composting with the chickens at my level. It's all good.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

OK. I better understand now. I have been following your posts for some time and know that you, like me, are into the chicken run composting and such. Always enjoy reading your posts.

Thanks, I've enjoyed reading your posts as well. So far, the hay bales are holding things together although I can tell they're starting to break down as well.

Also, when you can put 30 barrels of leaves into a system and think "well, that's a start', it's clear you're making an ABSURD amount of compost.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Yeah, that is a very nice setup. I don't have your scale of operations, but I too have found success composting with the chickens at my level. It's all good.

Yeah, 3 chickens with a pile of leaves and a few scraps or what I'm doing, any anything in between is great. Not everyone needs to go totally over the top like I do.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My teenage GSon was here on home leave last week from academy (he's in 9th grade) and I had him fab me up a little 4x4 composting bin from some pallets. I first had him stretch some plastic netting over each one pretty tight to help hold the materials in and then screw three of them together butted up against a garden fence, leaving the front open. I will use a fourth pallet as a "door" to close off the front. Into this box will go the cleanings of the hen house (shredded paper and chicken poop) and once it is built up pretty good I may add kitchen scraps as well if I can bury them deep in the poo. Hopefully that will keep marauding varmints like 'possums and raccoons out of it. If not, it will just have to be the paper, poop and maybe leaves. We had been just dumping the coop waste in a pile, which I didn't like bc it gave the dogs such bad breath and besides that it just collapsed and spread out, but I went out there and dug some up the other day and it had become the most GLORIOUS composted garden soil you could hope for! So now with an actual box to contain it and keep the dogs out, I'm sure I'll be a lot happier with it. Although honestly three bins would be better than one.

 

[gtaus]

Also, when you can put 30 barrels of leaves into a system and think "well, that's a start', it's clear you're making an ABSURD amount of compost.

Like I said, I'm not at your operational level, but I, too, make more chicken run compost than I can use in my gardens. Last year I gave some compost away to my neighbor, and he really appreciated it. Unfortunately, they just moved last week so there is nobody else in the "hood" with a garden to share my bounty. The new owners are out of state and will only occasionally be at the house. I doubt if they will have any garden, but who knows?

I will be adding a few more raised beds this spring, but I will still have way more compost than I can use. I guess that is a good position to be in.

BTW, I have also built a pallet holding bin just like the one in your picture, but only half the size. Anyway, I have it loaded up with leaves and just letting it sit and age to make leaf mold compost. Already talked to my free pallet supplier a few weeks ago and plan on getting some more pallets when the snow melts. You can never have too many pallets sitting in the backyard!

 

[NatJ]

...I may add kitchen scraps as well if I can bury them deep in the poo. Hopefully that will keep marauding varmints like 'possums and raccoons out of it....

Is there a reason you want to put kitchen scraps in a compost bin, instead of putting them in the chicken pen? If the chickens eat the parts they want, and mix the rest with their bedding and droppings, there won't be much left to attract varmints.

 

[gtaus]

Into this box will go the cleanings of the hen house (shredded paper and chicken poop) and once it is built up pretty good I may add kitchen scraps as well if I can bury them deep in the poo.

You might want to consider putting all the spent coop litter out into the chicken run. Once my chickens ate all the grass in the chicken run down to bare dirt, I just converted my entire run into a chicken run composting system where I dump wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, and just about anything else organic into the run and just let it compost in place. I just throw our chicken bucket of household food scraps and leftovers into the chicken run. Most of the stuff gets eaten by the chickens, and what remains just gets mixed into the compost litter in the run. I don't bother to bury anything because there is really nothing left after the chickens have a go at the scraps.

I went out there and dug some up the other day and it had become the most GLORIOUS composted garden soil you could hope for!

Composting in place in the chicken run produces great compost. My chicken run litter has been as deep as 18 inches in the fall after I dump all my leaves into the run. I only have to remove the top 3-4 inches before I strike black gold compost. The chickens are constantly digging in the compost litter looking for worms and bugs. All that constant mixing produces compost faster than I ever got in pallet compost bins. Let the chickens do the work they love to do!

Although honestly three bins would be better than one.

I have pallet bins for excess material and for old moldy food stuff that I would not feed to the chickens. I don't bother turning my pallet compost bins. My strategy has been to fill one bin to the top and start on the next bin. And then the next.... Currently, I have 5 of those pallet compost bins and the first three are full. It takes me a full summer to fill just one bin (most of my organic stuff goes into the chicken run composting system). Anyway, given time, nature will compost the material without any further effort on my part. By the time I fill my 5th pallet compost bin, probably in year 5, the first bin should be more than ready to harvest.

I am in no hurry with the pallet compost bins. I get way more compost from the chicken run composting system then I can currently use. So, the pallet compost bins will just be a bonus when I harvest them.

Is there a reason you want to put kitchen scraps in a compost bin, instead of putting them in the chicken pen? If the chickens eat the parts they want, and mix the rest with their bedding and droppings, there won't be much left to attract varmints.

I agree. If you feed kitchen scraps and leftovers to the chickens, they will eat almost everything. The list of things not to feed chickens is very small, but if I have moldy rotten food, that will go into my pallet compost bins. I don't have a problem with varmints, but if I put anything in the compost bin that might attract a varmint, I will dig a small hole in the compost and cover it with a generous layer of carbon material to help cover the smell.

 

[Sally PB]

I love threads like this.

I have turned the "winter poop pile" into a compost pile, adding leaves to balance out the poop. It'll have to sit for a few weeks before I start the turning-every-other-day method of getting it to compost quickly.

I have some food/kitchen scraps that don't go to the chickens: moldy/stale bread/buns and coffee grounds, mostly. I save veg/fruit scraps and add them to their afternoon mash snack. Now that weeding season is here (yay spring!), they'll be getting a bucket of weeds as often as I can get one for them.

I plan to clean out the pine shaving coop bedding in a few weeks. It's all going into the run. Next fall, I'll be putting it in the garden, after harvest. The soil/compost in the run is looking good, that's for sure. And soft, and thick. You go, girls! (And boy.)