Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[vehve]

Ah, I didn't read that closely. Yeah, I think it would compost, but not that quickly. The leather will take ages to break down, but I'm guessing the wool would break down more quickly.

 

[lazy gardener]

I expect that sheep fleece would slowly compost. It's protein. I assume it's just the fleece, and not the hide? I think it would be a slow process b/c of the lanolin properties. Too bad you couldn't salvage it for it's original intention. I bring home all of the coffee grounds I can get my hands on.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

I expect that sheep fleece would slowly compost. It's protein. I assume it's just the fleece, and not the hide? I think it would be a slow process b/c of the lanolin properties. Too bad you couldn't salvage it for it's original intention. I bring home all of the coffee grounds I can get my hands on.

If you can put your cat, dog & people hair in the compost, I'd agree that sheep's wool would be compostable. I'm betting that there are microbes that would consume the lanolin, but yes, it could take more time. You might want to separate it out as much as possible. And I'd cover the fleece well to keep out flies (unless you want maggots, of course. Have you ever seen a fly-blown sheep?)
Regarding coffee grounds: I collect FREE empty frosting buckets from the bakery departments of local supermarkets and take the empties with me to replace the full ones at the coffee lounge. Right now I'm with an informal group who service a non-chain coffee shop. My day is every third Friday. So far there have been from 3 to 5 buckets to pick up. I tear up the filters too as they are quite compostable. Messy job.
Penny

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks for the info regarding frosting buckets! There's a dunkin donuts 8 miles from me. I've been meaning to call them.

 

[vpatt]

I expect that sheep fleece would slowly compost.  It's protein.  I assume it's just the fleece, and not the hide?  I think it would be a slow process b/c of the lanolin properties.  Too bad you couldn't salvage it for it's original intention.  I bring home all of the coffee grounds I can get my hands on.  

I did spin enough yarn from it for one project and it is getting older so I am going to try it in the compost. Yes, it is only the the fleece not the hide.

 

[Sill]

I had an old fleece I had not spun and I tried using some of it for bedding during the really cold weather. Now it is all mixed in with straw....do you think it would compost? Of course, there is lanolin in it. What do you all think?

Also, I wondered if any of you have collected grounds from coffee shops....I tried to get some from Starbucks one year and it seems that one of the employees was taking it so I didn't get much from them. I may ask at a couple other shops in our area.

Yes the fleece will compost, but it will take a while. To speed it up cut it into small pieces and mix it well with other materials, preferably fairly wet stuff, to help the bacteria and fungi get through the oils. If you just dump a pile of fleece in it's likely to stay dry in the center and not decompose.

 

[vpatt]

Yes the fleece will compost, but it will take a while.  To speed it up cut it into small pieces and mix it well with other materials, preferably fairly wet stuff, to help the bacteria and fungi get through the oils.  If you just dump a pile of fleece in it's likely to stay dry in the center and not decompose.

I can cut it.....it really is only about half of the fleece. I will post about how it works.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

Thanks for the info regarding frosting buckets! There's a dunkin donuts 8 miles from me. I've been meaning to call them.

Make sure you get the lids too as the coffee shops want the collection spot to look sanitary and hygienic.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

You're quite right, Felix, I should have said that around here it is definitely not recommended to put meat & dairy in the compost due to there being all manner of predators. When we lived in the mountains the most serious were the raccoons & mountain lions, with occasional bears in the autumn when they were trying to fatten up before hibernation. Now that we're living in the suburbs (still semi-rural with lots of irrigation ditches & large drainage gulches on account of it being old farming land) we have those predators that have adjusted well to suburban living - foxes, coyotes, raccoons and skunks. Raccoons are terribly destructive as well as being nasty chicken killers, and no-one wants to encourage skunks. Also, being in the suburbs, one does not wish to antagonize one's nearby neighbors with hordes of flies and a stench from the compost heap.
Penny
PS When Paco (the-chicken-killer-dog) killed the mice from the nest under the compost heap, I threw the sad little carcasses into the chicken run. They totally disappeared in short order.

Quote:
For about 19 years we lived in the foothills above Denver and during that time we didn't have a problem with bears, but they were around. People did dumb things like leaving dog food or unsecured trash cans outside, or hung bird feeders within bear reach. We were very careful, and our neighbors were too.

As for compost - well, I knew next to nothing about compost then, just what I'd observed my mother doing way back when. We had plenty of room in our vegetable garden so instead of heaps used the trench method of composting. Nothing seemed to disturb the stuff in the trench.
Things took a long time to decompose, but we weren't in a hurry. At least I assume the items took longer to decompose since I didn't ever dig them up again to see when had happened underground! I just planted over the top. I did have to store compostables over the winter as it's even harder to keep a trench clear of snow than a heap. And we had snow there. 2100+' (650+m) higher than Denver's elevation made a difference.

Our barn was a 4-stall BRICK building. Very nice. The previous owners had enclosed the end stall with vermin-proof wire and a sturdy door, and added lights & power. They used it for grain storage for the horses. It made a great chicken house for our hens. I would let them out in the daytime on occasion to pick up dropped grain or to scratch around in the vegetable garden, but I think we were lucky as we didn't lose any to predators. (In one spring/summer we lost 4 cats to coyotes : ( .)
Penny

 

[vehve]

Penny, sounds like a nice setup for the chickens. That trench method is probably pretty effective, as long as you don't dig down too much stuff. Hugelkultur is another idea that interests me, but I don't really have a suitable place for a big setup. There are some logs cut in about one foot sections, slowly breaking down about 10 meters into the forest from our yard, those could be utilized.