Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

[gtaus]

The only real "new" thing I'm trying this year is a I just bought 20 lbs of "spring pea" seeds. I'm going to start trying to mix soaked seeds into the compost system to see if they'll sprout and give the birds more motivation to scratch and a bit of tasty sprout treats as a reward.

Please keep this thread updated on that experiment with sprouting your spring peas in the compost. I'd really like to hear how that works out for you.

I made a nice grazing frame for the chicken run last year, thinking grass would grow up through the hardware cloth and the chickens would have fresh greens to eat. It worked, for a short while, but the chickens scratched so much stuff on the wire that they clogged up the wire and blocked out the sun. So, everything died in the grazing frame. Not a total failure, but not the success I had hoped for.

Thinking about your spring peas, I wonder if a person would have more success to mix the seeds in the compost, then put some kind of barrier around that plot for a week or so to keep the chickens out and let the seeds sprout, then remove the barrier and let the chickens have at it? I saw one guy on YouTube do that with grain he sowed in the chicken run, and every week he moved the barrier to a different location.

 

[gtaus]

The only real "new" thing I'm trying this year is a I just bought 20 lbs of "spring pea" seeds. I'm going to start trying to mix soaked seeds into the compost system to see if they'll sprout and give the birds more motivation to scratch and a bit of tasty sprout treats as a reward.

Please keep this thread updated on that experiment with sprouting your spring peas in the compost. I'd really like to hear how that works out for you.

I made a nice grazing frame for the chicken run last year, thinking grass would grow up through the hardware cloth and the chickens would have fresh greens to eat. It worked, for a short while, but the chickens scratched so much stuff on the wire that they clogged up the wire and blocked out the sun. So, everything died in the grazing frame. Not a total failure, but not the success I had hoped for.

Thinking about your spring peas, I wonder if a person would have more success to mix the seeds in the compost, then put some kind of barrier around that plot for a week or so to keep the chickens out and let the seeds sprout, then remove the barrier and let the chickens have at it? I saw one guy on YouTube do that with grain he sowed in the chicken run, and every week he moved the barrier to a different location.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I've actually tried a little of both previously...really, the goal is slightly different.

With applying seeds into the compost, the idea is that the chickens will eat some of the seed and some sprouts. This would all happen in theory within a few days or a couple weeks of applying the seed. You keep the hens from eating ALL the seed before it sprouts by burying it a bit deeper than they may dig (tossing it in while turning compost, for example).

With the second option, I used a welded wire fence ring. I put some cover crop seed in there, and let it grow a few weeks until it was a good amount of greenery. Then you move the fence a few inches, exposing some greenery, then again, etc. If you had a relatively small flock and a decent sized run, I could see doing this in succession...always having one being snacked while another 1-2 are growing.

I think either works fine, and the difference is pretty minor - but wanted to add additional context.

 

[gtaus]

I think either works fine, and the difference is pretty minor - but wanted to add additional context.

Thanks for the insight. I might try the welded wire fence ring this year. I think that would give the grain a little more time to sprout and grow.

I think I might just pull out the grazing frame I put in there last year. Or, maybe I'll add more wood to the frame to have it sit higher above the ground - maybe keep the chickens from scratching litter on the wire and killing off all the growth in the grazing frame. I have a lot of pallet wood so maybe I'll just add another height of 2X4's to the frame using the pallet wood 2X4's.

In any case, it's not a big deal. I mow my yard with the grass collection bags and just dump the fresh grass clippings into the run. In fact, I mow a small section of the backyard every other day to ensure that the chickens get fresh grass clippings throughout the summer. I really don't care if my backyard is mowed all at the same time. That keeps fresh clippings in the run while not overloading it with too many grass clippings. Better for the composting, as well, I would imagine.

So, my chickens are getting fresh greens all summer and what does not get eaten is good for the composting.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Two other composting stories:

Yesterday I attended the Rhode Island Compost Conference at Rhode Island College. It was good fun and lots of food for thought related to building on the successes of expanding composting more widely. As a compost geek, I was with my people.

Today I as able to coordinate a donation of compost from my employer to a local farm non-profit org. So, after my 9:30 meeting, I headed out to direct the skid steer as it filled the back of their truck with compost. Then back into the office for another meeting. Just another day in the office!

 

[gtaus]

Two other composting stories:

Yesterday I attended the Rhode Island Compost Conference at Rhode Island College. It was good fun and lots of food for thought related to building on the successes of expanding composting more widely. As a compost geek, I was with my people.

Today I as able to coordinate a donation of compost from my employer to a local farm non-profit org. So, after my 9:30 meeting, I headed out to direct the skid steer as it filled the back of their truck with compost. Then back into the office for another meeting. Just another day in the office!

I think I would enjoy in-person meetings with other people interested in community composting. I guess I'll have to settle for posts back and forth here on the BYC forums.

Last summer I was out at our county landfill. People bring loads of yard waste out there, like leaves, grass clippings, etc... The landfill piles that stuff up in huge rows and turn it over every so often. Over a period of time, you can see that the older rows are a rich black. Looked like some really good compost.

So, I asked the head guy out there at the county landfill if people could take some of that compost for their use at home. Silly me thinking that our taxpayer money could be used to make something worthwhile for us. The answer, as you might have guessed, was "Absolutely not." The landfill uses that compost to cover up the landfill sites when they get full. Then they plant native grass in the compost. Well, I guess it gets used at least. It would have been better if they would let the public take some.

I really was not upset for myself. I have more than enough black gold compost from my chicken run composting system. But we live in a lakes area and our soil is mostly poor quality sandy mix. Even grass seems to have a hard time growing in our soil. If the landfill would give away some of the compost they make, lots of people could have better gardens overnight.

I think it's just the main guy at our landfill that runs the show. He is not very people friendly, which is probably why he works out there in the middle of nowhere at the landfill pretty much by himself. I attend a monthly Senior's Cooking Class in town, and I was talking to our cooking teacher. I told her how I got the landfill guy upset with me because I loaded up a perfectly good `$200 scaffolding set from the iron trash pile. My instructor told me that at their county landfill, they let anyone "dumpster dive" for anything they can find of value. Completely different approach to community reuse of materials than we have in my county.

Not specifically related to compost, but close enough, is getting pallets from the landfill. Last year when I was looking for places to get some free pallets to make raised garden beds, I asked the guy at the landfill if they had any pallets they would give away. "Absolutely not!" He said that he runs a landfill, it's in the name "county landfill", so they bury all the pallets and cover them up. Again, what a waste.

I bet lots of people get into composting with the old pallet bins. I know I did.

But, to leave on a more positive note, we can take all the free wood chips we can load in our trailers. I have taken advantage of a couple trailer's full of wood chips that I have used both in the coop and in the chicken run. I still have a nice pile of wood chips out by my compost bins. I mainly use the wood chips as top mulch in the flower gardens now that I have switched to using paper shreds as deep bedding in the coop. But one can never have too many wood chips ready for use.

 

[laboroflove]

I love this chicken run composting idea! You have inspired me to do the same on our place. Currently my chickens run is a 10x20 dog kennel. I was going to expand it due to there being a total of 30 chickens in the run come summer. There will also be a chicken yard attached to the run for some “free range” time.

After reading about the composting I was thinking of putting down cinder blocks to build the run walls on top of so the wood frame doesn’t try to decompose with the compost That would give (I would think) plenty of layering room.?.? We have dairy goats and a horse (about to be two, mare due next month!! ) so we will also be adding barn waste as well. Chickens LOVE horse manure.

What do you think about cinder blocks being used as a border? I have always free roamed my chickens so building a run is new to me.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

What do you think about cinder blocks being used as a border? I have always free roamed my chickens so building a run is new to me.

If you're going to build the run with wood, I think you're on the right track with cinder blocks to avoid ground contact with the wood. My run is just a fenced-in area, so I use metal T-posts and welded wire fence.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I think I would enjoy in-person meetings with other people interested in community composting. I guess I'll have to settle for posts back and forth here on the BYC forums.

It was a really cool event. I'm already looking forward to next year and plan to work with some folks I met there in the coming year to move some initiatives forward.

Yes, for whatever reason, people who run transfer stations / landfills tend to be grumpy. I guess if I had to deal with the general public all day long, I would be too!

Being in the smallest state in the union, we have ONE landfill here. They actually do a nice job with composting of lawn/leaf waste. Like you said...massive windrows. They use some of the compost on site and sell the rest through a vendor.

They shred wood waste and put it down on the roadways on "trash mountain" to reduce mud so the trucks don't get stuck.

Some of the cities in the state have their own municipal compost facilities. Often they allows you to come pick up compost for free.

And yes, generally...reduce and reuse are two of the best ways to solve the waste problem. A pallet going into the landfill is such a waste....it can be used for building materials, fuel, wood chips, etc.

I *wish* I could get free wood chips....the good/bad news around here is that they're in enough demand that people can charge for them. That's a bigger good, but a pain for me.

 

[laboroflove]

If you're going to build the run with wood, I think you're on the right track with cinder blocks to avoid ground contact with the wood. My run is just a fenced-in area, so I use metal T-posts and welded wire fence.

Is your run covered as well? Or do you not have aerial predators? That’s my concern and why I was building a wood frame with netting/roofing. I would love for there to be a way where it will just be a huge yard for them to enjoy.