Outdoor brooder...

[JB8907]

Had an idea when i was feeding chicks in my outdoor brooder today. I'm essentially doing a deep litter method in their brooder. I just add some pine chips every other day or so. It doesn't stink and they look very healthy and are growing nicely I think. Here's my question. Could I just keep doing this with chicks and essentially have a brooder on top that turns everything into compost on the bottom that I remove from there? Would there be any benefits to the birds by doing this? They would be able to "forage" and it would produce heat that won't catch on fire. I could add other organic matter for them besides pine chips.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You'd need quite a bit of compost going for it to actually heat up, and if it's usable compost that you want, you're better off with as little wood in the mix as possible, which may not be ideal for a brooder environment.

I do something of a variant on what you're thinking, though I'm not actively trying to produce compost (I do end up with some, as run materials break down). My brooder sits in the run (which has deep litter) so all the poop and food waste from the chicks ended up on the run floor. To "clean" I simply move the brooder every few days and the hens come and eat any wasted food and stir up the litter for me.

 

[JB8907]

You'd need quite a bit of compost going for it to actually heat up, and if it's usable compost that you want, you're better off with as little wood in the mix as possible, which may not be ideal for a brooder environment.

I do something of a variant on what you're thinking, though I'm not actively trying to produce compost (I do end up with some, as run materials break down). My brooder sits in the run (which has deep litter) so all the poop and food waste from the chicks ended up on the run floor. To "clean" I simply move the brooder every few days and the hens come and eat any wasted food and stir up the litter for me.

I'm going to try to start out just as an experiment. I know the one chips won't break down fast enough. And in the next year when winter comes back...if it decides to. As long as chicks remain healthy that go through this brooder there should be a decent amount of "compost" produced wouldn't you think?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Doesn't hurt to try experimenting, as long as you can step in if things aren't working correctly (i.e. it starts smelling bad, you better clean it out!)

 

[JB8907]

Doesn't hurt to try experimenting, as long as you can step in if things aren't working correctly (i.e. it starts smelling bad, you better clean it out!)

Of course... Don't want anything getting sick and dying prematurely.

 

[JB8907]

Took these today. Still have yet to clean it and everybody is fine with no smell.
You'll notice the waterers hang over the entrance. This keeps moisture down from spillage and thus helps keep things dry. Only problem I've noticed is keeping the shavings inside and my smallest children OUT!!! Other than that I'm happy with my no clean brooder.

 

[JB8907]

Here's the outdoor "self cleaning" brooder with its current inhabitants and the compost floor.

 

[JB8907]

 

[aart]

Here's the outdoor "self cleaning" brooder with its current inhabitants and the compost floor.

How is it 'self-cleaning'?

 

[JB8907]

How is it 'self-cleaning'?

Everything breaks down like in a compost pile or DLM in a coop. All I do is mix it some every couple days. I haven't cleaned out in over a month and a half and my last run through it look great. My keets seem to have gotten noticably larger in last couple days since they went in it too. They get to digg for stuff in it and I throw leafy weeds and greens in there and they go NUTS over them. So far I'm happy with it. Thinking of a way to make a worm farm out of it that I can remove stuff from the bottom of all the way across without disturbing the stuff on top.