Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[Bens-Hens]

Mmmmmm pizza smell!

 

[vehve]

Mmmmmm pizza smell!

Pizza Compostori!

 

[aart]

Just read this entire thread, was clued into it by the link on vehve's signature line.
The words 'Hot Compost' caught and widened my eyes as I have been searching for comprehensive documentation/experience for a fast way to compost the pine shavings and poop from the coop.

IMO hot is the only way to go to ensure all pathogens are destroyed and I have little tolerance with slow never really breaking down 'piles'.....have had a few myself and seen many others.

Much enjoyed your thorough documentation of your process vehve, and look forward to following along in the future, thank you!

Will share my thoughts and story with HOT.....just started chickens last fall, kiln dried shavings on the floor and a roost board with sand and PDZ. I like this system, it's worked well for me. I sift off the poops every 2-3 days and planned to totally change out the floor shavings after 6 months. I have been giving the poops sifted off the roost board to a friend for his compost, but have not explored his progress...I'm a little too analytically critical/honest/direct/blunt and he's a little too sensitive for us to really discuss it, shame that but, I'm glad to get rid of it because I don't have a set up to quickly process it and I'd rather not just chuck into the woods.

So...this spring when I totally changed out the floor shavings, which contained a fair amount of feces(fresh, dried, and pulverized) some spilled chicken crumble and PDZ scratched off the roost boards, I formed a 30" diameter ring of 4' high 2"x4" welded wire mesh and piled it in the ring sprinkling what I thought was liberally with water with every 2-3" layer. It was about 30-33" high, about 13 cubic feet.

It sat, I watched it, I tried several ways of measuring the core temp, losing and then retrieving the candy thermometer was a fun one...then one day stumbled across someone who loaned me his 18" long compost/soil thermometer. I knew it wasn't very hot in there because I had done the piece of metal thing and sure enough it was barely 95 degrees. So encouraged by having this thermometer I turned the pile, I had made the mesh fence cylinder easy to remove and place in the next spot, putting 10 gallons of water on it.... yes, 10 gallons!! Well, kiln dried pine is really dry, right.....and within 24 hours that puppy was up to 160 deg F, within a few days the top had sunk in about 6" and the whole pile about 4". Eureka!!

But...alas.....I have neglected it since. Mobility issues(very bad foot and knee) and keeping up with other obligation in said condition have curtailed my progress on the compost project..and many others. It has continued to 'shrink' and grow some mushrooms and now 'moss' or algae or something on the surface. Need to make some improvements on containment(lining with plastic to keep the stuff from leaking out the holes and to retain moisture), use a shorter piece of fencing(4' too high to lift over and not necessary) and figure out a way to make it all flow to eventually start composting all that poop myself.

For now my plan is to:
-get a few fencing cylinders set up(time to change out floor bedding again before winter)
-turn the already partially cooked pile again(very curious to see what's in there)
-buy my own thermometer(remember the critical analytic part mentioned above?)
-hopefully actively monitor and turn these piles to see how the wood progresses with this process.

Only time will tell...I will post here any progress I make, and meanwhile enjoy reading about the endeavors of others participating, on this thread.

Cheers! Oh, am not metrically minded, but I use this almost everyday Josh Madisons Convert program when reading posts by those who are, and for lots of other applications.

 

[vehve]

@aart Welcome to the thread, and thank you, I appreciate your appreciation of the thread

With your back issues, and interest in hot composting, I think a modified version of my box would work for you. You could make the whole front part removable in two parts, instead of the solid lower part I have, making emptying easier. The insulation would keep the heat in it better to ensure destruction of pathogens, and for turning, one of those compost turner tools I shared a picture of earlier in the thread would work nicely. It takes a lot less effort than a pitchfork.

A small update on the use of our compost, we planted a plum tree today and I used about 250 liters of our homemade soil for that. I'll share some pictures once the uploads are working again.

 

[aart]

Thanks, and you're welcome.

I don't have a place I'm willing to dedicate to a more permanent structure....but maybe some day...I'm also thinking about a rotating barrel.
Right now I just want to play with the hot temps and see how if effects the wood shavings.
I don't do any gardening except for garlic, and use rabbit manure for that, so no huge need for compost, just want to reuse the poopy shavings.

 

[vehve]

You can always start growing some more stuff, just choose something low maintenance, like beans.

 

[perchie.girl]

You can always start growing some more stuff, just choose something low maintenance, like beans.

Or Shrooms.... ahem... Mushrooms. I have a spot in my Greenhouse room that would be good for mushrooms. Actually if I ever do any gardening it will be in that room. Sigh but I may be dropping out of all this eventually...

deb "off to the front porch"

 

[vehve]

Deb, but then you'd have to find someone to feed the shrooms to

Besides, they grow in the forest on their own just fine.

 

[perchie.girl]

Deb, but then you'd have to find someone to feed the shrooms to

Besides, they grow in the forest on their own just fine.

They dont grow here.... I love em all. And you can buy a starter brick online.

deb

 

[vehve]

As promised, pictures of homemade soil in use:

Just think that two months ago this was just chicken poop, bedding and garden waste.

Here's the finished product: