Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

[gtaus]

@gtaus can I just fork old/dirty coop bedding (we're using pine shavings) into the run?

I put all my old coop bedding into the chicken run. The first two winters I used wood chips, and they worked great. The past two winters, I used paper shreds and they work even better because they compost much faster in the chicken run.

Your used pine shavings from the coop should be great for the chicken run. To make great compost, mix in some grass clippings this spring/summer. Compost works best when you mix the browns (e.g. pine shavings) and greens (e.g. grass clippings). The chickens will scratch and peck the litter and mix everything together looking for worms and bugs to eat. They are natural composters.

My run is only covered with bird netting, so the natural rain gets on the run litter all the time. If you have a covered run, you will have to spray down the litter every once in a while, to keep the compost at that wrung out sponge consistency.

 

[Sally PB]

If you have a covered run, you will have to spray down the litter every once in a while, to keep the compost at that wrung out sponge consistency.

My run is covered. I empty out the water bowl into the run at lockup to help add moisture to the compost/soil. I pick a different spot each night.

But I don't do that in the winter, when the ground is frozen, like right now. The dirt in the run is quite dry, and the chickens dust bathe in it. I dump the water outside the run. The dirt in the run stays dry and scratchable.

 

[gtaus]

That's what I do.

Same.

Me three

Good to hear from you guys. I'm looking forward to harvesting some more compost in a few months to top off my old raised garden beds. Also, I will be making some more pallet wood raised beds this spring to increase the amount of food I am growing in the backyard. My main garden does not have running water, so I have been transferring my gardening efforts to raised beds in the backyard where I can get a hose and sprinkler out there.

Would love to hear about your composting efforts and if you guys are trying anything new. My chicken run compost system works great for me, but I'm always interested in any improvements or different ways to make compost.

The only improvement in my system I am currently working on is building some kind of stand for my cement mixer compost sifter. In order to get my garden carts under the sifting barrel, I have been putting my cement mixer up on blocks. It works, but it is not the most stable solution. This spring, I will be looking into making a stand from pallets with a wider base and hopefully, will be more stable.

 

[Sally PB]

I'll be harvesting the run compost mid-April or May. I want to be able to get a shovel into the ground. The run is somewhat shaded, so the ground can be frozen longer than out in the garden.

I'll have to see how much compost I get out of my "let it sit all winter" pile. That stuff is going on my raised beds, I think. The run compost is probably going on my heavy soil garden.

I am so ready to get out in the garden, but it's still covered with snow.

 

[Iluveggers]

Good to hear from you guys. I'm looking forward to harvesting some more compost in a few months to top off my old raised garden beds. Also, I will be making some more pallet wood raised beds this spring to increase the amount of food I am growing in the backyard. My main garden does not have running water, so I have been transferring my gardening efforts to raised beds in the backyard where I can get a hose and sprinkler out there.

Would love to hear about your composting efforts and if you guys are trying anything new. My chicken run compost system works great for me, but I'm always interested in any improvements or different ways to make compost.

The only improvement in my system I am currently working on is building some kind of stand for my cement mixer compost sifter. In order to get my garden carts under the sifting barrel, I have been putting my cement mixer up on blocks. It works, but it is not the most stable solution. This spring, I will be looking into making a stand from pallets with a wider base and hopefully, will be more stable.

My run has a 3 foot walkway between it and my garden. I fill a wheelbarrow and turn around and walk into the garden to use it. It wasn’t completely composted, but I threw a layer on my carrots & parsnips in the fall, and the rest on my planted garlic along with dried leaves. Best carrots I’ve ever grown, just pulled them last month. Hoping to say the same for my garlic.

The next use will come probably next time the snow melts. Will top off all of my raised beds a month or so before transplanting my seedlings. The girls also have free reign of the garden when nothing is planted, so I’m hoping to see less pest problems this year. Now to figure out the best way to segment into sections once I have plantings put in. Thinking 2 or 3 ft of chicken wire around the raised beds. Still working on what to do with the rows. I have it planned to have half of the rows empty at any given time for my chickens to forage in. Spring crops going in one section. Fall crops going in the other. And they’ll have access to all of the walkways. I will have little to no weeding to do this year, and so much easier for no-till!

I saved about 6 bags of dried leaves in the shed, and when i empty the run, I add a layer of leaves to start the girls with scratching and absorb the droppings. It worked really well. Will probably add some paper shreds once the new shredder is full.

 

[gtaus]

My run is covered. I empty out the water bowl into the run at lockup to help add moisture to the compost/soil. I pick a different spot each night.

But I don't do that in the winter, when the ground is frozen, like right now. The dirt in the run is quite dry, and the chickens dust bathe in it. I dump the water outside the run. The dirt in the run stays dry and scratchable.

When my chickens ate the grass in the uncovered chicken run down to bare dirt, I had to cover the ground or I would have nothing but mud when it rained. That is how, over time, I ended up converting my entire chicken run into a chicken run composting system. For me, it was a great journey because I now get loads and loads full of compost whenever I want it.

There is still some grass in the far edges of the chicken run where I expanded the fencing, but my chickens prefer to dig out a dust bath in the compost. I suppose it is easier to dig in the compost than scratching up grass or dirt.

Also, I wonder if they like the moistness of the compost when they dig down into the litter? Sometimes, in the summer heat, I go out there and the chickens have almost buried themselves in dust bath holes in the compost.

 

[gtaus]

I'll be harvesting the run compost mid-April or May. I want to be able to get a shovel into the ground. The run is somewhat shaded, so the ground can be frozen longer than out in the garden.

I'll have to see how much compost I get out of my "let it sit all winter" pile. That stuff is going on my raised beds, I think. The run compost is probably going on my heavy soil garden.

I am so ready to get out in the garden, but it's still covered with snow.

I live in northern Minnesota, so, I too have to wait until I can get a shovel into the ground. For me, that's usually mid-April like you. My average last frost date is May 30, so I have lots of time to build my new raised beds, sift out some compost, and have things ready to plant or transfer at the end of May.

My garden and raised beds still have about two feet of snow on them, but yesterday we hit a high of 46F! That really felt nice. Just a week ago, we were sitting at -20F at night.

One thing I really like about my cement mixer compost sifter is that I can sift out the finished, smaller, compost from the larger, unfinished bits. I mix my finished compost with topsoil to fill my raised garden beds. If you have a "let it sit all winter" pile and it's not quite finished, you could always just use it as top mulch on your garden. Any chicken poo in your winter compost pile should be more than aged enough to add to your garden.

I bought a bunch of seeds on sale at Menards, so I will be trying to grow some new stuff this year. I'm not a great gardener, but sometimes I get lucky and actually things grow. I have had more luck with planting in the raised beds and using the Square Foot Gardening system. But I still consider myself a novice gardener. Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting back out in the garden again this year.

 

[gtaus]

My run has a 3 foot walkway between it and my garden. I fill a wheelbarrow and turn around and walk into the garden to use it.

Nothing better than having a backyard garden right next to the backyard chickens! That's why I am moving my garden efforts from the main garden to my backyard right next to the chickens. Less effort all the way around. Sift the compost at the chicken run and wheel the cart to the raised beds only feet away.

My main tractor mowers have 48 inch cutting decks, so my raised beds are spaced out about 6 feet apart. But that allows me to cut the grass between the raised beds with the mowers, and also, I can hitch up my pull behind garden carts with the mowers and drive right up to whatever raised bed I am working on.

I saved about 6 bags of dried leaves in the shed, and when i empty the run, I add a layer of leaves to start the girls with scratching and absorb the droppings. It worked really well. Will probably add some paper shreds once the new shredder is full.

I always have a few bags of dried leaves ready for use. When it comes to paper shreds, which I now use in the chicken coop as deep bedding, I like to cover the shreds with a layer of grass clippings out in the run, or, I have to cover the shreds with old litter in the run. If not, the paper shreds will blow all over my yard because my chicken run fence is 2X4 inch fencing.

But I am really happy with using paper shreds as coop bedding because they compost much faster than wood chips out in the chicken run.

 

[gtaus]

The next use will come probably next time the snow melts. Will top off all of my raised beds a month or so before transplanting my seedlings. The girls also have free reign of the garden when nothing is planted, so I’m hoping to see less pest problems this year. Now to figure out the best way to segment into sections once I have plantings put in. Thinking 2 or 3 ft of chicken wire around the raised beds. Still working on what to do with the rows. I have it planned to have half of the rows empty at any given time for my chickens to forage in. Spring crops going in one section. Fall crops going in the other. And they’ll have access to all of the walkways. I will have little to no weeding to do this year, and so much easier for no-till!

That sounds like a great plan. I would love to do that, too, but I live on a lake and we have hawks and Bald Eagles overhead all the time. I would not have any chickens left if I let them outside the run with no protective cover.

I have a small creek running through my property, and I think it was last summer I was mowing the lawn and came upon a big Bald Eagle that was eating a fish he snatched out of the creek. He looked like he was 3 feet tall. Big sharp beak and nasty looking talons. Beautiful bird, but I'm sure he would like a chicken dinner if he could get at my chickens. That's why I don't let my chickens free range.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

We've had a bit of a non-winter here in Rhode Island. We literally got our first shovel-worthy snow just the other day. I dug a small area out of the chicken run and used it to fill a flower bed in front of the house I'd dug out last fall. Was a lot of work, but whatever flowers or shrubs my wife decides she wants to grow there this spring should grow like crazy.

I have a bunch more compost in a particular area to clean out come spring. I plan to use it to follow my chicken tractor across the lawn in my attempt to eventually convert my entire backyard into much more lush grass and clover.

I have a few bags of leaves left, and I know I have a few neighbors who still have leaves they won't mind us sucking up with the tractor. That should hold me until the pre-Memorial day cemetery cleanups, which usually get me a truck full of leaf bags or two.

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.