rid of chicken poop after cleaning coop

[ChickensRDinos]

Ok, never done compost before. Does it smell really bad?

If you get the right mix of things it does not smell at all. If it is just a big pile of poop it will smell and also not compost. You need a nice mix of chicken poop, veggie left overs, coffee grinds/tea leaves, cardboard, pine shavings, and it will compost nicely into beautiful soil.

The key is to mix "green" things (high in nitrogen) or I what I think of as "living things" like fresh veggies, plants that are still green and just pulled or chopped, chicken or rabbit poop, etc with things that are "brown" (high in carbon) or in my mind "dead things" like crispy dry old leaves, cardboard, newspaper, pine shavings etc.

This green/brown mix is what makes the deep litter method work so well--in that case a good mix of poo and pine shavings.

You don't have to be all that exact about it. If your compost smells poopy or rotty you probably need more "brown" things. If it seems overly dry and brittle you could add some "green" things. Ideally it will smell sort of earthy and be just a bit damp and fluffy (not wet or compacted hard) to the touch. Turn it every so often to let it breath.

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/compost-questions

http://compostguide.com/compost-materials/

 

[Kazfam]

Ok, never done compost before. Does it smell really bad?

No, if it does you are not incorporating enough air so turn it with a pitch fork - I cover the poop or rather make sure to turn it into the lower debris 'cause it can smell and does attract flies if not mixed in. But really, not a big deal and probably one of the few things in life where you get back more than you put in. Kinda magical.

 

[goody64]

Ok.. Thank you. I guess it's time to build a compost bin

 

[shmeggs]

I spread mine around my yard so I don't buy fertilizer. all natural fertilizer.

 

[vehve]

We decided to go with a mixture of peat and pine shavings inside the coop. I can't really say much about it yet, since our flock has only been occupying their coop for a week and a half now, but since we also have 4 week old's there, we've kept the coop pretty warm, at about 20 deg C. So far the only source of smell is all the leftover food we've given the chickens, and that only started around yesterday. I'm working on building an insulated compost to handle the used bedding and whatever compostable material our cooking and gardening produces.

The plan is to preprocess most of the stuff that goes into the compost inside the coop/run first, and then move it to the compost to cook for a month or two. I still need something to put the stuff into after the hot part of the process, since it probably won't be ready for the garden at that point yet.

Anyone else have any experiences with this kind of a system?

 

[goody64]

Ok... New issue! I had set up a small pallet in my run to act as a wind break. Long story short, a small pallet fell over and landed on some blocks that I have in front of the coop door. ( broke it's fall a little bit) unfortunately it still landed on one of my girls it couldn't have pinned her to the ground for very long. I looked out my window and saw that my ladies were out n about so I decided to go let them walk the yard, by the time I got out to the coop (3 min tops) their she was pinned!
I removed the pallet and she jumped up and went back into the coop. However she was favoring one of her legs. She is now in my garage with food and water and heat lamp. She still will not put a whole lot of weight on her leg, and will not walk anywhere. She has Ben laying in the same spot for 3 days. She is alert and eating and drinking water... But will not move. I clean under her an she has layed one egg since the whole ordeal. What should I do?