Disposing of old shavings

[Crooked Chicken]

Meet Lola...

View attachment 1152173

Lola is so cute and she's got a winning smile!

 

[Brian Wood]

I like the corn cob bedding I've been getting at rural king breaks down better in compost and the chickens like searching it for small treats of corn they find

 

[aart]

I would never do anything that I believed would be detrimental to the health of my flock.

The cut grass is bagged using a mulching mower, grass bagged and donated by my gardening friends. As such, I know that all is safe, free from chemicals, and cut short. This is a fine fescue, not straw like in any way.

@RonP, Didn't mean to infer that you would, apologies. Was just curious about your experience. Short fine green stuff sounds good. 'Grass' like 'sand' has many different configurations.

Your composting deep litter run is one of the finest I've seen.

Another Q: Do you ever find the mass of green molding, or do they eat/scratch it up quick enough to avoid that?

 

[RonP]

@RonP, Didn't mean to infer that you would, apologies. Was just curious about your experience. Short fine green stuff sounds good. 'Grass' like 'sand' has many different configurations.

Your composting deep litter run is one of the finest I've seen.

Another Q: Do you ever find the mass of green molding, or do they eat/scratch it up quick enough to avoid that?

Sorry for the delayed response, I missed this post...

No apologies necessary, my response was too curt do to another poster, in another thread, accusations of abuse... due to misinformation…

The mass of green sits atop the deep litter. Any excess moisture is wicked away beneath, and dried from above. At times, I have put A LOT of fresh grass into the run(4 plus inches covering entire run once the birds spread it out), just to see what would happen.

With the flock messing around doing their chicken thing…it has never turned into a slimy muck, nor moldy, that others refer as a potential issue. I do have an excess of carbons which helps, but that is why I add the grass.

 

[aart]

With the flock messing around doing their chicken thing…it has never turned into a slimy muck, nor moldy, that others refer as a potential issue. I do have an excess of carbons which helps, but that is why I add the grass

I'll avoid putting it in the run here....but it's long, coarse 'turf' grass, not mulched. I pile it outside the run to keep vegetation growth down since I added HC...they can pick some thru the HC.

 

[RonP]

I'll avoid putting it in the run here....but it's long, coarse 'turf' grass, not mulched. I pile it outside the run to keep vegetation growth down since I added HC...they can pick some thru the HC.

Agreed, turf grasses differ due to preference, function and location. The grass I accept is a fine fescue lawn grass, common in my area where many keep throwing green at it to keep it green... watered and cut every two or three inches (manicured) with a mulching mower, then bagged in a compostable brown leaf bag for my run.

In return, I supply some of the finest compost and soil enhancers these master gardeners have ever had access to.

It's a win win situation. My spent shavings, leaves, wood chips, paper bags, cardboard, and other biodegradable carbons, compost quicker with the added nitrogen from the fresh cut grass as I could use 10 times the manure my flock produces.

My run smells like a forest floor...

 

[peckpeckpeck]

I'm trying to deep liter in the covered run as well.
I have a lot of straw & no greens.
What greens can I add if I don't have grass to add?

Should I take the cover off? My run is covered with plastic since we get a ton of rain in the Pacific NW. But I'm afraid of the mold.

 

[aart]

I'm trying to deep liter in the covered run as well.
I have a lot of straw & no greens.
What greens can I add if I don't have grass to add?

Should I take the cover off? My run is covered with plastic since we get a ton of rain in the Pacific NW. But I'm afraid of the mold.

Is the bedding dry and dusty?

Chicken poop is really the only green you need....adding a mix of more 'browns'.
Different sizes, shapes, types is best IMO.
Too much of any one ingredient can cause a nasty anaerobic slime.

Pic of what you've got, wide view and handful of bedding, might help garner more specific advice.

 

[RonP]

It depends on what your goals are.

Manure management?
Simply requires carbons to offset the nitrogen in the manure. Free wood chips and leaves are an excellent source for carbons. Anaerobic slime usually comes from an imbalance, too much green and not enough browns. Too many browns simply slows the decomposing down.

If your goal is compost, well, do a quick internet search on composting. You will get many good sources of information. I could not begin to guess what you might have available.

Quick list from the internet:

Leaves
Grass clippings
Brush trimmings
Manure (preferably organic)
Any non-animal food scraps: fruits, vegetables, peelings, bread, cereal, coffee grounds and filters, tea leaves and tea bags (preferably minus the staples)
Old wine
Pet bedding from herbivores ONLY — rabbits, hamsters, etc.
Dry cat or dog food
Dust from sweeping and vacuuming
Dryer lint
Old herbs and spices
Shredded newspaper, receipts, paper bags, etc (any non-glossy paper)
Tissues, paper toweling, and cotton balls — unless soaked with bacon fat, kerosene, makeup, or other stuff that doesn’t belong in the pile!
Cardboard, egg cartons, toilet rolls
Used clothes, towels, and sheets made from natural fabrics — cotton, linen, silk, wool, bamboo
Old string & twine made of natural fabrics
Pine needles
Pine cones
Saw dust
Wood chips
Nut shells
Twigs
Hair, human or otherwise
Old, dry pasta
Nut shells
Corn cobs
Pits from mangos, avocados, peaches, plums, etc.
Toothpicks, wine corks

 

[hillbillyreefer]

Spread the shavings out in a thin layer on your lawn, the biology in the ground will take care of the rest. Don’t. Use a bagger on the mower or it will just suck them all back up.

Work smarter, not harder.