How and where to compost chicken waste...

[tryingtohaveitall]

Thanks for the great links!

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[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

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That's a great question, and very difficult to answer

Well, the answer is "it depends". I live in a dry desert climate, so most of the year, I probably use less shavings than many deep litter practitioners in moister environments. In the rainy season - yuck, I pile it on!

I figure my nose knows, and just give the coop a big whiff when I gather eggs. In my case, there are only two smells - pine and poop - so if it gets more poopy than piney smelling, I add litter.

 

[packmomma]

What I do is the board that is laid under the roost..I do have some shavings on top to help them come off the board in winter cause it all freezes to it. When I clean that out once a week I sprinkle some of the older shavings on top and then when it looks a little sparse I put more down. I sorta rotate the shavings. The shavings by the nesting boxes and openings outside stay cleaner so I move those back towards the roost and add the fresh by the doors. MOst of winter my girls have to stay in because it has too much snow in their run. I"m gonna try to fix that but I also "fluff" up the shavings a little because they pack them down.

 

[Country Parson]

I use three primary methods of composting.

First, I made a 3-bay compost system out of pallets. Once the first bay is full, I turn it every couple of weeks. After about 6 turns, I throw it into Bay 2 and start over with fresh material in Bay 1...etc etc. I use this material almost exclusively in my raised beds & flower beds.

Second, I got a roll of horse-fencing and made a big circle (about 8-10ft wide). The fencing is 4ft high. This is my dump pile that I only turn about twice a year (it is easily a half-day project). Since my bedding/manure comes quicker than my pallet system can handle, this is where I dump all materials I can't use at the moment. It is my SLOW compost pile. At the beginning of Spring I spread this all around my garden before tilling. It also gets leaves, shredded office paper, the occasional bucket of cow manure, coffee grounds, and spent garden plants.

Third, I direct sow bedding/manure onto my garden. I only do this in early winter (December, maybe mid-January--but not after that). This is usually fresh cow manure (compliments of my dairy farming neighbor, who also spreads it for me). It breaks down enough by Spring, and adds wonderful organic matter to my soil. You want at least 3% organic matter, but I prefer around 5% (some advocate 10%, 15%, or even 25%, but my local Extension Office expert told me that is an insane amount that is very counter-productive). FYI, when I first started gardening on this plot I had 2.6%, and the next year I increased it to 4.3%. I noticed a HUGE difference come harvest.

So, I put on:

Fresh manure/bedding in Fall
Composted manure/bedding in Spring

 

[Delmar]

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That's what I'm counting on!

I always had a couple going as at some point if you wish to break entirely down you need to quit adding stuff to the pile...

That is what I was thinking.​

 

[MaureenL128]

I don't have a compost pile but as I shovel out the coop upon cleaning, I just spread it around all of my plants in the yard.

 

[SJensen]

I put clean litter in the henhouse and move the old stuff down into the deep litter in the run. That litter breaks down and gets moved into the compost pile a couple times a year. Works great!

 

[shabbyshic]

So you put the poopy litter in the run? that is interesting.. what becomes of it in there? it just combines with the dirt (is that what you have as a base to your run?)