how to compost chicken poop?

[lilchickenz]

Add leaves from the trees, kitchen scraps, all the chicken doo, horse poo and keep going through the winter. Turn if you want or just keep piling it up. I just throw everything on during winter then in the spring I give it a turn and pile it up high so it heats up and composts real nice. Yes composting is super easy!! It really does the work itself. You don't even have to turn it or pile it higher if you don't want to, just throw it in a pile and let it do the work. If you want to use it, you should start a new pile so everything in the old one can break down proper. The nitrogen in the fresher stuff can burn plants. That's about all there is to it. Give it a try, you'll see it's so easy

 

[shaky6]

I make a stack out of used tires, and dump my manure, some dirt, yard debris, and kitchen compost in there. Make as many stacks as you have tires. I have a half acre garden so I need much more than one of those expensive compost barrels from the farm and home store can provide. In the spring I knock over the tires, scoop up the compost, spread on the garden. I think the hobby farming hippsters call it 'repurposing' the tires. Whatever.

 

[threechickfarm]

I LOVE this idea of using the tires! Great!

 

[LoriinColorado]

Any of you have experience in a dry climate like Coloado with composting with your chicken manure? I have been told that the air here is just too dry to compost.

 

[chickkrzi]

Any of you have experience in a dry climate like Coloado with composting with your chicken manure? I have been told that the air here is just too dry to compost.

Yes it's been very dry here in Texas as well. I just sprinkle some water on it once or twice a month. Also cover it with clear plastic (it'll help create condensation). Seems to be working just find. I'll use hay under my roost. Clean it out every 2 weeks during cooler months, once a week during warmer months. Turn it with my tiller once month. Stop adding in November and it ready to use in march plating. I don't use it for underground crops. But for squash cantaloupes watermelon and tomatoes I'll just dig a hole in my sandy garden soil about 8-9" deep, about 1-1 1/2 foot wide, then just dump my compost in that, plant my seeds or plants then set back an watch them grow.

 

[Shanty]

Yes, it is tougher to compost in drier climates. In the El Paso TX region we are often at 8 to 10% humidity (like right now). I used four doors from my wife's remodeling project to set up my compost "bin." It is in front of the chicken coop so all I have to do is open the door and shovel or fork out the litter/droppings. My coops have straw during the winter and shavings/sand the rest of the year. All are thrown into the composting "bin" to which I add grass clippings (I live in the desert on an acre of sand so MUST beg clippings from the poor souls who spend money watering their lawns and mowing their lawns weekly), kitchen scraps, and the like. Although I add some horse droppings from one neighbor, and add a few bags of composted steer manure, I never add any dog feces, ever. I soak the "bin" occasionally--whenever it looks like it needs it--then turn the compost with a pitch fork. The key in dry climates is to NOT let the compost get dried out. It will be "dead" then as the microbes that make it can't survive. Placing a plastic tarp over the "bin" after watering helps in this regard, and gets it warm if the weather is cool. BUT, be careful as you can also COOK the microbes. It's a balancing act to get good compost. Takes experience that you will develop as you go along. My chickens also get free range in the "bin," and they do a great job of rearranging the compost in their search for grubs. Earthworms don't last long here so they don't have worms to eat--just the grubs from June bugs and the like. I add some mealworms a few times a year in the summer to keep them busy and happy as well. The compost stays in the "bin" all winter; I use it as an additive to my raised beds and planted stock tanks in the spring. I move any remaining compost to a few plastic garbage cans and then start the process all over again when I clean out the winter straw/droppings. The leftovers are added as a starter for the new compost. It would be ideal to have two beds, however. One working and one "done." One works well for me in my situation. Finally, chicken manure is too "hot," indeed, if used when it is fresh or fairly so, as noted by another poster above. That's why mine sits all winter. I really liked the tire method noted above. Great idea! I used tires that way, too, for growing potatoes. Stack then three or four high, add good soil, plant the potatoes, and, when it is time to harvest the potatoes, simply knock the stack of tires over and harvest the crop. Here's my compost "bin" with some Dominiques doing their share of "turning" the compost.

 

[Pent]

When my coop is functional, I like to use a three stage process. Clean shavings and bedding go into the coop. When it starts to look dirty and discolored, I push it all out into the run. Out there the bugs can get to it, and the chickens keep mixing it up and pooping in it. Fall leaves and garden clippings go into the run, too. Eventually I rake/shovel out the run into a pile, and let that sit, mixing it up from time to time. Eventually I declare it compost and add it to the garden.

 

[Brigitte1]

Funny because here in Columbus, NM it's also so dry that we finally gave up composting. I use alfalfa in my coop and change it once a month. I have 5 hens and 2 roos. My hubby mows the lawn, I shovel and wheel the alfalfa to the lawn and hubby spreads it out, straight from the coop. And water it like crazy for 2 days. He then takes the lawnmower and mulches the leftovers. We have the best looking grass, in the desert. Nice a plump and green.

 

[RD ExpressionZ]

Does anyone use corn fodder in their coops? I currently use pine shavings in the nest boxes, nothing on the floor of my coop. I sweep out my coop daily and pressure a wash it weekly in the summer.

 

[shortgrass]

Does anyone use corn fodder in their coops? I currently use pine shavings in the nest boxes, nothing on the floor of my coop. I sweep out my coop daily and pressure a wash it weekly in the summer.

By fodder, do you mean corn stalks or are you meaning WET fodder as feed? I use corn stalks if that's what you're asking they're big, but they're free here lol hold up well and great in the compost.