Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[vehve]

Scott, all ideas are always welcome, I might not use them but they force me to think about my solutions and hopefully lead to improvements.

This morning it had cooled down a bit, the air was only 36C in the box and the core was down to about 62C. Outside air temp was about 9 C. I did turn it and water it quite a lot in the evening though, and this morning too. Now I think I'll let it rest for a while again to let it bring the heat up in the middle. It's tricky balancing between keeping the heat and getting all of the pile to sit in the middle to be thoroughly cooked for at least a while. I have some weeds in there that I want to get hot enough to kill any possible seeds.

 

[vehve]

Here's a photo update from this morning:


Temps have been dropping a bit, the box was 38 C in the morning and core 58 C. But as you can see, there's progress in batch 3. I've still been filling batch 4, so it's not as clear.

*Edit* Here's the before:

Compared to this pic, I moved some of the stuff on the right to the left after two days, and the level is still a lot lower now than it was when this was taken.

 

[LindaB220]

Okay, Felix, gathering my supplies for my first ever compost heap. I've been cleaning out the coop and will layer some hay, dirt, leaves, shredded paper, compost, coffee grounds and leftovers. No meat. Youtube has a video from Reaganite1 on Drunken Compost. Spraying down each layer with a mixture of 1 can of beer, 1 can of coke and 1 cup of ammonia. Put in a sprayer to use with 20 gallons of water. He turns it once on day 7 and by day 14 it's done. It's so dense he rototill's it

 

[vehve]

Sounds good. I don't know what good the coke will do in the mix though, you're better off drinking it and peeing on the pile. The beer should work nicely though, and the ammonia too. Depending on how much chicken poop you've got in there, you might want to cut down on the ammonia though, or you'll get quite a smell. And make the pile big enough! You won't have ready soil after 14 days though, but it will be great for fertilizing at that point. To use as soil it will need at least a few months of maturing first.

 

[vehve]

Temps still keep dropping. Today it was 36 C in the box (about 97 F) and 55 C (131 F) in the core. The texture has changed though, it's getting easy to turn batch 3, the straw and other stuff in there no longer keep it together as much. Everything in there is now a very dark brown as well. It is releasing a lot of ammonia though, when I turned it I had to hold my breath and step away to get some air every once in a while. Adding some shavings on top would help capture it, but I wouldn't want to do that.

 

[aart]

Temps still keep dropping. Today it was 36 C in the box (about 97 F) and 55 C (131 F) in the core. The texture has changed though, it's getting easy to turn batch 3, the straw and other stuff in there no longer keep it together as much. Everything in there is now a very dark brown as well. It is releasing a lot of ammonia though, when I turned it I had to hold my breath and step away to get some air every once in a while. Adding some shavings on top would help capture it, but I wouldn't want to do that.

Too wet maybe? Not enough carbon?
Add a touch of straw maybe?

 

[vehve]

It's only an issue while turning, it doesn't smell otherwise. I do add straw and spent bedding to the other side, it seems to absorb most of the gasses while the lid is shut. It doesn't feel too wet, but I think I wont add any water for a while to be safe.

 

[hennible]

Nice looking compost vehve... Think I'll be building one of those next spring over by the greenhouse.

 

[scottcaddy]

It's only an issue while turning, it doesn't smell otherwise. I do add straw and spent bedding to the other side, it seems to absorb most of the gasses while the lid is shut. It doesn't feel too wet, but I think I wont add any water for a while to be safe.

It's been 7 days! Did you add water and have a 'opps' , are you safe?

Just wondering and a bit worried.
Scott

 

[vehve]

Sorry, I've been busy with other projects and haven't had time to report. The core thermometer gave up a week ago, and the hook for the air temp thermometer needs to be replaced. Batch 3 is starting to get ready, which is good because batch 4 is about as full as it can get. No smells from the compost in a while.