FAILURE @ HT COMPOSTING!

[Bridebeliever]

I've been at this for 6 full months so I'm NOT giving up easy...frankly I refuse to give up because I know how awesome compost is! Here's my pile:

It's about 4 1/2 feet high, I completely turn it anywhere from 2 to 4 days. It's composed of chicken poop, pine shavings and dried leaves. I have seen steam rising from it a whole ONE time. Oh, and we live in Washington so it gets plenty of water, but it's not soaked. I do even add a couple of liters of water to it occasionally too.
I have read so much about hot composting but clearly I just don't get it! I have 8 chickens and loads of poo! We clean the coop daily but don't overly scoop out pine shavings.
I'm feeling that even though there's lots of poo I am still missing nitrogen stuff (we've added lettuce a couple of times). So today I'm going to go out and harvest a whole wack of stinging nettle that's starting to rear its ugly head and add that to the pile.
Anyone have any suggestions for me? What am I doing wrong?

 

[Leigti]

Here's a quick list, yes you can use cooked vegetables. Maybe divide the pile in half make yourself two piles and it would be easier to manage possibly. Basically any fruit or vegetable or plant material can go in there. Just make sure there's no pesticides etc. on any of it. I had a gallon bucket sitting in my kitchen and I would just toss the scraps in there. Then when it was full I would haul it out and throw it in the pile and stir it around. I buy really cheap beer and pour it in, I hate beer so it doesn't bother me to do that just don't add any meat or dairy products. No dog or cat poop because they eat meat. Chicken Pooh, horsemen newer, cow manure etc. works because they only eat vegetation.

 

[triplepurpose]

They do make thermometers specificslly for compost: like a meat thermometer with a reeeeeally long spike. that said, ive never felt the need to use one...

i think you are on the right track...

but id definitely check out the "composting with chickens threads". i used to hot compost more with varying degrees of success, but now i do most comping in a special pen attached to the coop. its just so much easier. i also particularly recommend this article: http://www.nwedible.com/the-crappy-composters-secret-to-perfect-compost/

building monitoring and turning hot comp is just so much work and hassle on a human scale with handtools. im more inclined to use mulching, sheet composting, or till manure or greenmanure directly into the soil, along with what gets made in my compost pen.

Hot compost can be a great product, but in my experience is rarely worth the trouble on a household scale when there are easier options. Where it is useful is in industrial scale projects where heavy machinery is available, or in other situations where killing pathogens and/or weed seeds is important.

 

[Jensownzoo]

Do you have a thermometer to monitor temperature?

 

[Bridebeliever]

Well, yes, and no...I don't think my meat thermometer is long enough. Is there one made specifically for temping your compost?

 

[Bridebeliever]

Okay, I went out and dug in to the center to take the temperature. It's 62F (17C) in the center. The outside temperature here today is 47F (8C). Not really what you'd call hot, eh?!

I've got things SPROUTING in there...not the idea. So I dug out the center, threw in a bunch of Stinging Nettle (my arch enemy, but very nutritious), some more weeds and grass and about 4 cups of coffee ground. I then covered it all back up and threw on 2 gallons of water. Then I covered the whole thing with a blue tarp and placed a rock on top so it wouldn't blow off.

Am I headed in the right direction with this?

 

[Molpet]

well I think the oat needs to warm up......
I would turn mine every week or so in the summer...gives it time to heat up... is it wet enough? and not too wet

 

[Gatewayto]

You are heading in the right direction BUT

I believe the problem here is you are turning your compose TOO OFTEN. The temp is still too low to turned so often. You will want to turn compose pile every 2 to 4 days in the summer to cool your compose pile. Currently it is still too cold to turn this often, you are not allowing the compose pile to reach the right temp:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/fundamentals/needs_temperature.htm

 

[aart]

Well, yes, and no...I don't think my meat thermometer is long enough. Is there one made specifically for temping your compost?

Yes, there is and they are very, very handy.

You are heading in the right direction BUT

I believe the problem here is you are turning your compose TOO OFTEN. The temp is still too low to turned so often. You will want to turn compose pile every 2 to 4 days in the summer to cool your compose pile. Currently it is still too cold to turn this often, you are not allowing the compose pile to reach the right temp:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/fundamentals/needs_temperature.htm

Ditto Dat^^^

Also is it damp down inside?
When I composted pine shavings and poop, dry in the coop for a year....
......I sprayed what I thought was quite a bit of water on it, when it didn't heat up after a week I replied it and put 10 gallons of water on 13 cu ft of material.
It was up to 160F the next day.

 

[Bridebeliever]

You are heading in the right direction BUT

I believe the problem here is you are turning your compose TOO OFTEN.  The temp is still too low to turned so often.  You will want to turn compose pile every 2 to 4 days in the summer to cool your compose pile.  Currently it is still too cold to turn this often, you are not allowing the compose pile to reach the right temp:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/fundamentals/needs_temperature.htm

Thank you for that! Here is a quote from the article and I think this is what has been confusing me:

"Aeration to maintain aerobic conditions in the compost pile is essential for high temperatures. When the compost pile becomes anaerobic, temperature drops rapidly. Even small areas which have become anaerobic will often exhibit a lower temperature than surrounding aerobic material."

This is why I thought I had to keep turning it every few days. Probably the time I had gotten a little heat built up is when I had left it alone for a week!