Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[vehve]

We harvested a potato tower, so I got some more stuff to compost. Batch 2 is now full, and I started on batch 3. Pictures tomorrow.

 

[topdycke]

I started a compost last year pre-chickens. I also use a dog exercise pen and what I like is that I can unsnap it and move the pen and then turn the compost to the new location. I have been using horse manure, leaves and pine needles. The horse manure is collected in large wheeled yard trash bins and it does heat up fairly quickly. I used pelleted pine bedding that soaks up the ammonia and so it is pretty strong stuff. I believe I need more leaf matter however and the pine needles are very difficult to break down. The lower third also remains too wet while the middle third too dry. The chickens are on shavings and that may break it up or it may make it hotter. I also haven't really thought through how to distribute to the beds.

 

[vehve]

I threw some pine needles in the composter at some point, they seemed to break down pretty nicely during the hot phase. And hemp bedding soaked up ammonia pretty nicely too, but it breaks down a lot faster than pine shavings.

 

[scottcaddy]

I threw some pine needles in the composter at some point, they seemed to break down pretty nicely during the hot phase. And hemp bedding soaked up ammonia pretty nicely too, but it breaks down a lot faster than pine shavings.

I might need a bit of Hemp tonight, (I'm feeling my age) It's good to hear that it's good for composting also.

Scott

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
ahem.... hemp is still being used as a cover crop in the US.

deb

 

[Bens-Hens]

That first batch is looking really good mate.

Garden will love it in spring time.

 

[vehve]

That first batch is looking really good mate.

Garden will love it in spring time.

I hope so. We spread some raw compost on top of the soil around some of the plants we're growing. I have a chili plant that's about to start blooming soon, but I swear it has grown 5 cm during the night after getting it's nitrogen boost yesterday. I'm a lazy chili grower, haven't gone into the scientific fertilizing yet. But compost seems to work wonders.

 

[vehve]

As promised, a picture of batch 2 at point of leaving it alone.

When harvesting our potato tower, I took most of the peat and soil in there as cleanly as possible and threw it in with batch 1 into the maturing cage. The straw we used to line it, the seed potatoes, all green stuff and quite a lot of the peat and soil that was too mixed with the straw ended up filling batch 2, and I got started of batch 3 too. This morning when turning batch 2, there was already a nice heat brewing in the middle of the pile. I expect it to get hot within a few days. I'm a bit worried that the carbon content of the straw is a bit too much for this, but once it starts to break down a bit, I can mix the more nitrogen heavy parts from under it together with this. Until then, it should soak up some of the ammonia being released from the bottom. Also, it makes the compost pretty fluffy, so I think we'll get a nice aerobic breakdown process going in there.

 

[adventerousone]

When do you know you need to start a second pile?

 

[vehve]

Well, in my case the size of the bin dictates it, more than what is currently in the right side is very difficult to turn. Depending on how much compostable matter you accumulate, it can vary quite a bit. I would maybe not make the piles much bigger than what you produce in about a month, two max. You can also just have a continuous pile going, but then you'd have to remove from the bottom when it's done. I think it's easier to have multiple piles at different stages. Right now I have a three stage system (or three and a half). In the first stage, the pile is added to semi daily, and turned every once in a while. Once my bin is about half full, I start wetting it and turning it more often, to get the composting started, here mesophilic bacteria start warming the pile (batch 3 is in this stage). When it's full, it goes to stage two, where matter isn't added anymore, but I keep it moist, and turn it often, until the hot stage is over and it's cooled down a bit and the thermophilic bacteria is no longer active (batch two is starting to go into the hot stage). Stage three is where batch 1 is right now, resting in the wire cage were heat no longer builds, and mesophilic bacteria once again invade the pile, followed then by different fungi, molds, worms and other creepy crawlies.