? for those garden savvy types out there...

[muddler6]

Instead of investing in a composter, you could do what I did. I had an old worn out garbage can that use to have wheels and a handle. Well I cleaned it out with a little bleach and water, flipped it upside down cut the bottom out about an inch from the outside edge for stability, then used a 1 inch spade bit to drill a bunch of air holes on all four sides (it was a square garbage can). Keep it upside down so that what use to be the bottom is now the open top and filled it up with chicken droppings, bedding, kitchen scraps, damp feed, etc. You can put it right in the garden, or move it around to where ever is convenient. Some grass clipping really heat it up quick too. For the winter stack some hay bales around it for insulations (in the spring you can use the hay in the chicken run or garden as mulch.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
For me, spreading it thinly *increases* the amount of flies, at least short-term. It also increases nutrient loss, if you care. OTOH you do not want a big soggy pile in spring or summer (smell, flies, plus it leaches a river of "poo-water" into the groundwater or a stream) so in warm wet weather, if you can't cover your pile then sometimes spreading is good.
In fall and winter, tho, just make big pile, hopefully at least 4' high to help hold in heat. If you get lots of rain or snow, throw a tarp or some old carpeting over the top so it doesn't get too soggy; if you have dryish winters make it flat-topped so it catches rain. Toss a couple shovels of dirt into it too, to speed things along.

It will compost just fine. By spring, at LEAST the lower half of it (probably more) will be really nice composted stuff to use on your garden or horse paddocks. This is true in southern Canada anyhow so it is probably true where you are too

Up here, I find that flies don't become a problem in manure until maybe June - in warmer areas obviously that happens sooner. In my experience the best defense against smells and flies is to make a single big well-structured pile, somewhere it WON'T get rained on and soggy and stinky and contaminate groundwater (like in a shed, or under a heavy-duty tarp), and use "stinky fly traps" to capture what flies do hatch.

Back to CHICKENS though

the great thing about coop poop is that it doesn't have weed seeds in it. So it is GREAT for gardens! All our horse compost sprouts weeds like you wouldn't believe, and I only use it a) in the very bottom of deep holes for rhubarb, roses etc and b) to fertilize pasture.

Pat

 

[Wildsky]

Thanks Pat - that helps.

I'm unsure of the nature of winter here, first one... but we will get lots of snow - we have nowhere really DRY to keep all the poop... we could put it near some trees but would that damage the trees? We have about a three deep row of tree's all the way around our property...........


OH gosh I just remembered..... the folks before had a chicken coop - its still out on the far corner of the property - not sure how water tight it is, its very low roof, but we could certainly pile the poop in there!

 

[erinm]

I cleaned out my coop, put it all in the garden and turned it over let it sit over the winter. The stuff i put in weeks ago is alraedy half decomposed. of course it has been an unseasonably warm fall. { think it will only get worse.} ErinM

 

[Rosalind]

The chicken sweepings will indeed be very hot--enough nitrogen to burn plant roots.

However, if there is, say, a patch of your garden that you want to reclaim from the lawn or from the more invasive weeds, after you are done weeding put down a layer of burlap and spread a few inches of chicken sweepings on top. It will be rotted enough to plant in the spring.

 

[April Fountain]

I agree with all the composting suggestions before me and I want to add one more thought, if you want to keep your chicks from wasting so much of their food, try feeding them in some kind of raised tray, at least until they are older. I put thier food in a plastic planter bottom dish and have that up on a cement block. It shouldn't be higher then the chickens shoulder.
Aloha from Hawaii.

 

[Akane]

In winter in a cold area you can use black plastic or a tarp to help hold in heat and compost faster. You can also then use the tarp or plastic in the spring to cover a section of the garden before planting and bake the weeds so they won't grow. I have a huge 100x50' garden so I rotate where I plant. I pile all the stuff I clean out of the coop, some horse manure, and the bedding from indoor pet cages, tarp it and just leave it sit for a year. Next year I till that area in, plant it, and pile and tarp the section I planted last year.

If there isn't much chicken poop in it and mostly shavings I would probaby use it as mulch around what you plant this spring and then mix it in come next fall. If there's too much chicken poop in it though it will burn the plants unless you either compost it or mix it into a large area of soil.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. I put the poop, shavings, leaves, summertime grass clippings, etc. in my compost. I also put the kitchen scraps that I don't give to the birds in my pile. I have an area where I make my piles. I do have a picture of my compost area and my gardens on my BYC Page. I grow and sell my produce to local markets along with my eggs.
I think it is a good idea to cover the compost pile with a dark colored tarp in colder climates as well as put the piles or whatever method you use in a area where it would get the most sun. Most compost containers are black. Initially I used a compost starter (beneficial bacteria). Now I always have a pile going so I take a little out of the pile I'm using as starter for a new pile. Since I do it in piles, I keep the piles moist and turn them once in awhile.

 

[dancingbear]

I get empty plastic tubs from my feed dealer, some sort of horse or cattle supplement comes in them. He sells them cheap, they're about the size of those big plastic tubs with the rope handles, the ones that sell for beaucoup bucks. I get mine from $1-$3, depending on which ones he has. I have 4 down at the coop, full of straw and poop from the coop. I'll turn then every few weeks, and hope they compost down enough to use this spring. If not, I'll have them for next year.

The litter needs some moisture to compost, if you keep it too dry, nothing happens. About as damp as a wrung-out sponge is what you want.

If nothing else, dig a hole in the garden and dump it in, and cover it. If you do that every time you have litter to dispose of, you'll get good soil before long. Plant only where the oldest poo is buried, the newer stuff will still be too hot. (hint-if nothing grows there, it's still too hot!)

You can use an old garbage can, too, drill some small air holes, and a few for drainage in the bottom. Dump in the litter. Moisten it, if it's dry. Put on the lid. About once a week, check moisture content, add water as needed, replace the lid, lay the can down on it's side and roll it around, to turn the pile. Stand it back up. Go away for a week, then repeat. That's pretty much what all those expensive composters do. You'll soon have lovely compost.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Hi Kim! I didn't know you have new chicks (eee.... so cute!!). Did you get rid of the egg-eater? Congrats on the new babies!

I used a whole bunch of the coop shavings to alleviate my mud situation on the pathway to my coop. It has helped a lot.

I've been dumping the coop shavings onto my veggie garden plot since fall. The girls turn it over for me (and fling it all over the yard) so I figure I'll have a nice, fertile spot in the spring.

I've got to cut down my boxwood before I can start a real compost bin.