How do I compost shavings??? Help please...

[Carrie Lynn]

I want to compost the poop and shavings I scoop out each day. The shavings I scooped in the fall look unchanged.
What's the best way to do this on a small scale (4 hens), that isn't too unattractive (I like my neighbors) and will break down TSC flake shavings
in less than a millenia??? Unfortunately mulching mower doesn't yield green stuff for composting....

Thanks in advance! Don't want that poop going to waste in the trash!

 

[krcote]

Look up how to construct a simple compost bin made from pallets. It keeps things looking nice and neat. Be sure to "water" your pile if it looks like it is drying out. Dry compost piles don't compost! Turn on occasion. Be sure the pile has contact with regular dirt to encourage the growth of microbes and the like. Add other things besides just poo and shavings, such as brown and green matter. A quick read about composting will tell you all you need to know! It can be very rewarding

 

[Okie Amazon]

Another tip is to grow some comfrey and toss that into your compost pile. It really help heat things up. Shavings are pretty slow to compost, so you'll need all the help you can get. Keeping it moist is definitely required. You can also buy packaes of composting bacteria to start off your pile, kinda like sourdough bread starter!

 

[chickiepie]

I would definitely add browns and greens to the mix (raked leaves, pine needles, weeds, grass clippings from a neighbor maybe?, and kitchen scraps). Layer it all with a little dirt and keep it from drying out too much. You can also stir it a bit if you feel like it. That can help out too. Good luck!

 

[baldessariclan]

Pine shavings in our compost seem to break down ok -- we've been changing out one of those TSC bags of pine shavings about every 3 - 4 months. Pine shavings seem to take about 6 months to a year to break down completely (to point where you can't recognize them anymore).

We usually have 2 separate compost heaps going -- #1 is an "addition" pile one that we add to until it gets full, and #2 is a "full" pile that no longer gets added to, and is in the "finishing stages". By the time the "full" pile is completely done and gets emptied in the garden, lawn, or wherever, the compost has usually been in there at least 6 months, and sometimes up to a year -- it all depends how fast we're adding to the "addition" pile, and how quickly it's all cooking down.

You'll probably need to add some more "greens" (nitrogen-rich material) to those pine shavings (in addition to the chicken poop) -- maybe get a bag for your mower and add grass clippings every once in a while, or hedge trimmings, etc. Gotta keep it moist and turn it every month or two as well. They WILL eventually break down if you do all this.

One great way to make the composting process a LOT easier is by conscripting your teenage kids (or hire some, if none at home) to water/turn the pile and do the lawn mowing/leaf raking/etc. portions of the job...

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The key to your problem, I think, is the "scoop each day" part. YOu are undoubtedly getting WAAY too much shavings in relation to am't of poo, for good composting to occur.

Either you need to reconfigure things so you can get more poo and less shavings (a droppings board helps), or change your management style, or change your expectations from composting, or -- this may be the most useful tactic for you -- add more high-nitrogen materials TO the coop cleanings when you put 'em in the compost pile.

High N materials include fresh grass clippings (altho you really oughta be using a mulching mower that leaves them on the LAWN), or animal manure, or even high-N commercial fertilizer.

You will have to either experiment, or make some guesstimates and then do a buncha math, in order to find the right amount of high-N amendments to get the pile really cooking; but as a general hint, I would suggest "a whole lot more than you think you oughta need"

Also you need to make sure the pile has enough moisture, which unless your pile gets rained on a lot it may not have. You may have to hit it with a hose periodically. It should feel (on the inside) damp but not soggy.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Carrie Lynn]

Thanks All!

 

[wolfandfinch]

You may wish to go deep litter to let it do more work before it hits the compost.

lasagne compost it, with brown and green compost - you don't want all that nitrogen in one place

is this just from the coop or also the run? I wouldn't use shavings in the run. I'd think straw over sand - but that's because of my weather.

 

[wolfandfinch]

Oh, and I asked this question on another thread. Is DE a no-no for the compost that's going in a veggie garden?

 

[patandchickens]

While I have never seen a formal study done on the question, it is pretty clear to me from anecdotal reports that if DE from coop bedding has any effect at all on composting or soil microorganisms, it is so infinitesimal as to not be noticed.

So, I'd say don't worry about it.

Mind, I'd also say don't use so darn much DE in the coop that you think it *might* have an effect on the compost, either...

Good luck, have fun,

Pat