Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

[RoyalChick]

In a chicken run setup what you lose in "heat" you gain in "constant churn". If there's an area in my run I want the chickens to attack, I just throw a handful of whole corn or BOSS out there to motivate them. Anything they don't eat today may sprout and provide additional motivation/nutrition in the future.

Yes, that is what I was wondering. The bedding in my coop and run just sort of absorbs all manner of organic stuff I toss in there - the chickens spread it around and eventually I come and dig some up and put it around the roses. It isn't as beautiful as what @gtaus shows - I don't sift I just fill a bucket from the run floor and spread it around where I am growing shrubs.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Yes, that is what I was wondering. The bedding in my coop and run just sort of absorbs all manner of organic stuff I toss in there - the chickens spread it around and eventually I come and dig some up and put it around the roses. It isn't as beautiful as what @gtaus shows - I don't sift I just fill a bucket from the run floor and spread it around where I am growing shrubs.

Oh yeah, sifting is totally optional...if you're top dressing a lawn or some nice raised bed, sifting is good. If you're using it as a mulch around roses or shrubs...not really any need.

 

[Sally PB]

I was adding buckets of weeds to the chicken run in the summer, and dry leaves in the fall. Stuff was getting scratched around, broken up, but not really composting. Then it dawned on me: it is all dry as dust in there, because I put a roof on the run. So now when I dump out the waterer at the end of the day, I dump it in the run, in a different spot each night.

All the shavings are coming out of the coop sometime this summer, and they will go into the run. I'll water everything really well with my watering can every so often to help it all break down. I'll harvest the compost out of the run this fall, if it's done, or else next spring.

 

[RoyalChick]

I was adding buckets of weeds to the chicken run in the summer, and dry leaves in the fall. Stuff was getting scratched around, broken up, but not really composting. Then it dawned on me: it is all dry as dust in there, because I put a roof on the run. So now when I dump out the waterer at the end of the day, I dump it in the run, in a different spot each night.

All the shavings are coming out of the coop sometime this summer, and they will go into the run. I'll water everything really well with my watering can every so often to help it all break down. I'll harvest the compost out of the run this fall, if it's done, or else next spring.

I have the same situation - I put a roof on the run so it is very dry. I dump the water out of the waterers like you do, and sometimes I actually water the ground - particularly when it is hot as the chickens like the damp dirt to cool off in. Also when it rains heavily the dirt gets damp even with the roof.
I am not very diligent about it all but even when it is bone dry it does rot down - so what I have is like a nutrient powder for my roses rather than loamy dirt.
It seems to work though and is low labor!

 

[gtaus]

Here's a picture of one...the thing is insane. It's like a compost pile, if a compost pile was a combination of a computer and a robot.

Organic material (food scraps for greens, wood chips for carbon) go in one end, and is slowly moved through by an auger.

Auger speed, moisture level, and more are controlled by a computer. Rough final compost comes out in about 30 days.

They let it sit, sift it, and then use it. They have a pipe coming out of it that goes into a pile of wood chips next to the device...a "bio filter" for odors.

I stuck a compost thermometer into it the other day while giving a tour...it was over 140 degrees before I finished by spiel about the composter.

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That would be fun to see in person. Hard to believe that it spits out rough compost in just 30 days. Great way to recycle commercial food scraps.

 

[gtaus]

I love your set-up. I have had trouble really composting in my chicken run because the chickens don't just stir it up they spread it around. It all rots down eventually but it isn't the concentrated, heat generating decomposition process that I would get in a 'bin'.
Do you just heap it up or do you contain it in some way in the run?

Well, I dump stuff in piles and like you said, the chickens will spread it out making everything level. It's that process that I call mixing it up. Although the chickens will dig holes in the compost looking for bugs and worms to eat, and that mixes stuff up even more. But, mostly, it's just a cold composting process that takes place over a number of months. My compost litter in the run is about 12 inches deep. So, it's not going to heat up like you might expect in a bin. But, I make so much compost, that I can wait 6 months or more for nature to break down the material. The chickens just constantly scratch and peck the top layers which breaks the litter down to smaller bits, which compost faster.

I don't have any special way of keeping the compost in the run. Just fills up along the 2X4 inch fencing. I have thought of adding some 1/4 inch hardware cloth to the bottom foot of the fencing to keep all the compost litter in the run. Right now, a small amount does spill out but it's not a big deal to me.

 

[Julene]

This is amazing! And I'm so encouraged by it. I very recently fenced in a large area off of the chicken coop to do this very thing. My hens had been free ranging before but after a close call with a hawk and losing one to something hiding in the barn it was time for a change. Part of the run has grass and weeds but the majority of it has been covered in wood chips from when we had some trees taken out. I also toss in the grass clippings each week (an acres worth), plus garden and kitchen scraps. I put the soiled bedding in a 3-ft diameter 3-ft tall round cage made of hardware cloth and let it cook for a while before spreading it out in the run. I cannot wait to sift out the amazing compost that awaits me! You'd thinking sourcing compost would be easy out here in the country but it's been impossible. I will never be without these amazing compost makers! Oh, and I love your sifter!!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

That would be fun to see in person. Hard to believe that it spits out rough compost in just 30 days. Great way to recycle commercial food scraps.

We have so many cool sustainability features on our campus, we've started giving tours to employees and select guests. We're still slowly making our way back into the office post-Covid, but it's a potential draw for when people come in.

I recently talked them into letting employees bring in their food scraps from home to be composted. Every Wednesday from 7:30-1 they have a bin out in a convenient place for people to drop them.

Clearly, this chicken-run composter hasn't brought anything in, but it's perfect for people who can't compost at home.

 

[RoyalChick]

Well, I dump stuff in piles and like you said, the chickens will spread it out making everything level. It's that process that I call mixing it up. Although the chickens will dig holes in the compost looking for bugs and worms to eat, and that mixes stuff up even more. But, mostly, it's just a cold composting process that takes place over a number of months. My compost litter in the run is about 12 inches deep. So, it's not going to heat up like you might expect in a bin. But, I make so much compost, that I can wait 6 months or more for nature to break down the material. The chickens just constantly scratch and peck the top layers which breaks the litter down to smaller bits, which compost faster.

I don't have any special way of keeping the compost in the run. Just fills up along the 2X4 inch fencing. I have thought of adding some 1/4 inch hardware cloth to the bottom foot of the fencing to keep all the compost litter in the run. Right now, a small amount does spill out but it's not a big deal to me.

Thank you for explaining - that is exactly what I do. I have a board running around the base of the run which contains most of it and the little that spills out isn't a big deal.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Thank you for explaining - that is exactly what I do. I have a board running around the base of the run which contains most of it and the little that spills out isn't a big deal.

In spots, I have chicken wire a foot or so tall connected to the regular welded wire fence of my run...it helps hold stuff in a bit (and keeps the chickens from reaching through and pecking my plants on the outside of the run).