Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[hennible]

Yes sir it is

 

[vehve]

The air temperature in the box was circling around 17 deg C for a few days, but now since I've been dumping straw, chicken poop and leftover food stuff in there batch 6 has started to warm up a bit too, and we're up to 20 deg C. Batch 5 no longer gives out ammonia when turning it, but it is a bit too wet for my tastes still. It has sunk a bit, so there's something happening in there too, in a few weeks it's going to be lovely compost too.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Don't forget about the chicken poop. That's a nice source of nitrogen as well.

Oh, I've got TONS of that. Just didn't have enough greenery. CA is a dry climate, so the greens are hard.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I wonder if you live near one of those salad places... "Fresh..." something or other. I would imagine they toss a lot of green stuff every day. Maybe you could arrange a pick up?

 

[aart]

Quote: Isn't poop 'green' when it comes to the green and brown of composting recipes?
Maybe I'm missing the point.

 

[vehve]

Yeah, the basic requirements of a compost are carbon (the "browns", dry leaves, hay, woodchips etc), nitrogen ("greens", fresh leaves, fresh grass, manure, fertilizers), oxygen (usually added by turning, but also making the compost fluffy works, branches and layering the compost so that it breaks down and leaves air pockets aid in this), and of course humidity, accomplished by adding water if needed, or dry matter if it's too wet. I think that with a large enough pile and rigorous turning you should be able to compost without the green plant matter too.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yeah, the basic requirements of a compost are carbon (the "browns", dry leaves, hay, woodchips etc), nitrogen ("greens", fresh leaves, fresh grass, manure, fertilizers), oxygen (usually added by turning, but also making the compost fluffy works, branches and layering the compost so that it breaks down and leaves air pockets aid in this), and of course humidity, accomplished by adding water if needed, or dry matter if it's too wet. I think that with a large enough pile and rigorous turning you should be able to compost without the green plant matter too.

Ah, I see. I didn't realize poop was "green material". I started adding all of my kitchen vegetable waste and it's going well now. All I have to do is remember to turn it, which isn't easy when your pile is huge. Next pile will be much smaller to be able to work it easier.

 

[vehve]

Quote: One of those compost turning tools might be good for you, I think I posted a picture of one among the first pages of this thread.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

Yes, you're quite right about about the greens. The recommended ratio around here is 2:1 carbon (browns) to nitrogen (greens). Coffee grounds (count as greens) are absolutely wonderful in the compost. The beneficial soil microbes love them, as do the earthworms.
Keep your heap at about 4' x 4' x whatever height, no smaller, and chop/tear/cut/shred everything as much as you can when adding it; about 2" is a good size. The more cut surfaces the better. Since we have low humidity in the Rockies, I cover my heaps with black plastic to keep the moisture in, though it does make them quite hot in the summer. We shred our autumn leaves and save them to use as browns throughout the year, winter included. It's amazing to see how much decomposition goes on deep down during the winter.
Temp was a record-breaking 6 degrees F yesterday (-14C). That was our MAX temp, not the minimum. Lowest daytime max since goodness knows when. I don't know what it got to overnight. My poor compost heaps are frozen. (See why I'm interested in your hot composting?)

 

[hennible]

My compost is frozen too, -20C. Love the hot composter idea.