Shavings vs Hay

[MotherOfChickens]

I use hemp in the coop & nesting boxes, straw in the run [DLM]. No problems with straw here. Both break down well. The hemp is great. Hardly any dust.

Where do you get your hemp from?

 

[Ribh]

A chicken supply store ~ but that won't help you as I am in Australia & I don't know where Americans would get this stuff. Here is what they say about their product: https://www.backyardchickencoops.com.au/product/hemp-nesting-box-bedding-material-12l/
One bale has lasted me over 5 months & it really does cut down on smell & break down well in the compost. I don't use it in the run as we are sub~tropical & one good monsoonal downpour & the run

Where do you get your hemp from?

is sodden & I normally have to do a clean.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

A chicken supply store ~ but that won't help you as I am in Australia & I don't know where Americans would get this stuff. Here is what they say about their product: https://www.backyardchickencoops.com.au/product/hemp-nesting-box-bedding-material-12l/
One bale has lasted me over 5 months & it really does cut down on smell & break down well in the compost. I don't use it in the run as we are sub~tropical & one good monsoonal downpour & the run

is sodden & I normally have to do a clean.

Ahhhhhh ok! I will shop around online and see what I can find! Thank you for the info!

 

[paintedChix]

DLM in the run (& in my coops) - leaves, shredded paper (cardboard, newspaper, office paper, junk mail etc), pine straw, hay from ponies or hay that's gotten wet (spread out & not used by itself), some pony manure (not much at all), veggie/fruit scraps that I take out every few days & toss in, old/stale bread, cereals that have gone stale, chips, doggie bags from restaurants (grits - eeewwwww - chix love em. When we go to Cracker Barrel - chix go crazy when they see me coming with "stuff").











Added more leaves to each of these today, plus will do more tomorrow before the rain comes in. Hoping to not have issues this go round with rain... Have a 10x10' pen/coop & an 8x8' pen/coop that are nasty, deep muck - they will need to be dug out before reloading with fresh material and putting chickens back in them.

In the past, when our coops/pens have gotten too dusty - I spray with the hose. Since mid-September this year (Hurricane Florence), haven't needed to do that at all. We are trying to stay ahead of the muck... We are so over on water "s right now...

I can't find pics of shredded paper in the new little 4x8' coops... but think I showed enough.

In 2019, I want to plant herbs, veggies and even some grasses around the different coops that can be thrown into them as well. Comfrey (can be eaten as well as composting down nicely) & Miscanthus grass should work...

 

[MotherOfChickens]

DLM in the run (& in my coops) - leaves, shredded paper (cardboard, newspaper, office paper, junk mail etc), pine straw, hay from ponies or hay that's gotten wet (spread out & not used by itself), some pony manure (not much at all), veggie/fruit scraps that I take out every few days & toss in, old/stale bread, cereals that have gone stale, chips, doggie bags from restaurants (grits - eeewwwww - chix love em. When we go to Cracker Barrel - chix go crazy when they see me coming with "stuff").
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Added more leaves to each of these today, plus will do more tomorrow before the rain comes in. Hoping to not have issues this go round with rain... Have a 10x10' pen/coop & an 8x8' pen/coop that are nasty, deep muck - they will need to be dug out before reloading with fresh material and putting chickens back in them.

In the past, when our coops/pens have gotten too dusty - I spray with the hose. Since mid-September this year (Hurricane Florence), haven't needed to do that at all. We are trying to stay ahead of the muck... We are so over on water "s right now...

I can't find pics of shredded paper in the new little 4x8' coops... but think I showed enough.

In 2019, I want to plant herbs, veggies and even some grasses around the different coops that can be thrown into them as well. Comfrey (can be eaten as well as composting down nicely) & Miscanthus grass should work...

So you literally use yours like a compost bin, throwing anything in there that you would a compost bin?

 

[paintedChix]

Yes. My "coops" are open CP hoops that are all currently tarped except for 1 which is a truck topper set on a tin framed out base w/ a 16x16' run. That coop part, I only put food scraps in that I know they will eat - such as breads & foods - as it is tall, but it is pretty small. In the others, I will even put out the bones that I don't feed to the dogs after doing bone broth. What the chickens don't actually consume, they turn into the compost. I put out the no-no's as well - if they have plenty of food or other things to eat, they scratch it up, poop on it, composting it but don't consume it...

We have 2 of 3 8x8' coops out in the pony pasture w/ chickens. 1 is currently open to allow the girls to go in/out. The other is closed with a group of different breeds in it that we will be splitting up as soon as I get some more coops done. The 3rd (the one far right in 2nd pic) took a beating after both hurricanes went thru & we got still more rain. It is about 4" deep in muck that will need be removed before more materials added to restart DLM & some general repairs. Wish I could find that same type of heavy duty tarps - after almost 5 yrs and 2 moves they are just now starting to show the wear & tear of storms & cats. Current tarps are no-where near the same - having to be replaced every few months.



Behind the house, I have a row of 4 approx 8x8 pens that were here when we moved in. 2 coop/pens that are now hooped w/ panels. The pens next to them - need to have the wire roof removed from the 3rd in the line(& the muck dug out of it, too) & the tin flat roof on the 4th. Then they will also be hooped w/ CP, 2x4 wire and tarped. The 16x16' run with trk topper coop is across from that line of coops... Then we built the 1 w/ the brown tarp. And pounded the t-posts in deeper & cut that 4x4 down last nite - will be getting another coop up there this weekend (maybe today?). By the time we are done, there will be 8 back to back 8x8' coops. Don't think we will get them all done before Christmas break is over and I return to work... Rain to start again all day tomorrow.



and then the 2 - 4x8' coops in the "front yard". They are built next to the pasture fence so could utilize the fence posts and wire as part of the coops/runs. They each hold a quad of Bielefelders - the oldest 2 pullets just started laying, YEA.



I don't have enough veggie/food scraps to split between all the coops, so I also am talking to the local Piggly Wiggly about scraps from the deli as well as from the little diner they have in-store. Also, Subway (i keep missing the manager, so it hasn't happened yet), the Family Restaurant & Valenti's, the Italian Restaurant and a coffee shop (don't even know the name - I usually go by it when it's either closed or packed). These are all in the town 10 miles from my house and on my way back & forth to work. Want to be collecting foods from as many as I can during the summer this year - want to do vermi-composting w/ whatever I don't use for the chickens. I have 7 acres of solid sand (fenced pony pasture split into smaller paddocks) need to change into productive soil. We are doing that a little bit at a time...

We have a lot of chickens! and will be incubating many more this year - once we figure out the incubating process... .

I am starting to make dog food now for the dogs (5 - @ 12 - 80#s) & cat food for the cats (1 permanent inside, 2 in/out, 2 outside barn cats & 1 outside adopted feral that we still can't touch & 1 feral inside at the moment that will just have to shift outside) - crock pot cooking, have found recipes that will keep for a week (hmm, probably won't last that long w/ the number of dogs we have, LOL).

Our place isn't fancy, maybe not even pretty, but it does work. CP hoop coops can certainly be built more beautiful than ours! We will be making improvements to the coops, adding in HC for predator protection, etc. We will also be building a couple more, we aren't done yet. Want to get heavy duty red tarps to match the roof of our house/shop/carport - but we'll see how that goes. Don't know if the price warrants the cats' claws destruction or how much better they'd hold up in hurricane/storm winds.

I LOVE the DLM and "composting in place methods". We also compost what we pick up from the cats (chix feed for litter boxes) & dogs - in a compost pile separate from others that sits for 1-2 yrs before it gets used. The trees & roses LOVED that this year when I put the first container that we did from the dogs on them (started in 2015, not used until this year - 1/2 blue 55 gallon tub). Still have a septic tank for us, but setting up bucket composting toilets in the pasture - the older i get the harder it is to make it that 1/2 mile back to the house in time to go. Body says go - "must go NOW"...

 

[Folly's place]

It's highly NOT recommended to use dog or cat poo in the garden, because of parasite issues, some of which we can all share.
Mary

 

[paintedChix]

Yes, Mary. When it's not composted.

It was composted for extra long time, had plenty of happy worms in/out of it (red wrigglers, not parasitic types). It was mixed w/ other compost before use & it wasn't used in an area where we will be planting foods in the ground...

To each their own. I have gardener friends who recommend we pee directly on garden plants (little more difficult for me, LOL)... Others who also compost other manures... (humanure) and use the resulting compost on their gardens. Nothing goes to waste when it can be utilized.

Different strokes & all that.

 

[Folly's place]

That must be a very hot compost pile!
Mary

 

[paintedChix]

Edited to add - this is one of my "books"... w/ pics.

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I do know that some of our compost piles, have steamed quite a bit - both in cold and hot weather. Right now, the "active" carnivore animal pile isn't steaming (I also put other kitchen waste in the "carnivore" pile - grease, milk, things that we've managed to let grow into "penicillin", the parts of the massacred birds earlier this month) . I haven't actually checked the temps - we have room & a lot of natural materials on this property. I set the piles - get them to about 36x36x36"- though the current pile is a fenced square that is larger than that & it takes a couple of years to reach that size. Then leave them alone. I don't turn them or mess with them. They would compost faster if I did (don't have a tractor and MAN, that is WORK to do by hand), but I put different size materials in them and let nature do the back breaking work. The top layer is always leaves/pine straw/hay/straw - reduces any unwanted scents, in a pinch, even flattened cardboard boxes when I didn't have time to rake up leaves & such...

Honestly, we don't usually clean the dog pen in the back yard much (I did the first year as there was no grass in it - how I filled the 1/2 barrel) - we do put straw down/out mostly during the winter or before we know we are going to get a lot of rain so the dogs aren't in water and the dogs spread it almost as well as chickens will now. The grass grows fantastic there all summer long - starting in 2016, I scythe it for the chicken pens and the rabbits. The rabbits go CRAZY for it! They start binky-ing around their pens when they see me cutting the grass in the dog yard. Can't do a lawn mower in dog yard as they've dug too many holes, simply doesn't work... I also have to be very careful not to step wrong - don't need any twisted ankles or sprains.


Chicka is a mix - currently weighs 25#; Zuzu is mini aussie - last weighed 30#; Monkey last weight was #55 - considered obese for his breed/frame (he passed in Aug 2017 - 3 months before he would have been 11 yrs old); Goblin's last official weight was 77#. Lady's last weight was 42#. That dog yard above is no longer sandy like that! The pasture below is - have a lot of ground to cover w/ compost & seed...



The pond doesn't stay a pond for long - 2015 was the only year it stayed filled for any length of time between rain events... Eventually, we plan on having it made into a pond that "stays", but that is costly, too, and not a priority right now.

The "carnivore compost" that i used this summer originally filled a cut-in-half 55 gallon blue barrel that had drain holes in the bottom. The barrel is/was sitting on top of about 6" of leaves, pine straw in an area of our woods that already had a mulchy floor. That was filled by the end of 2015 and sat until it was used summer of 2018... It had reduced in amount by 1/2 over that time frame and because it was sitting under scrub oaks, it was continually filled w/ leaves w/o any work (I'm setting up more tubs that way now, LOL!!). We moved onto this property in Jan 2015.

What ever the next week+ of rain doesn't wash into the ground out in our front yard, will be picked up when dry again. We have 2 lines hooked to the front porch - when weather too cold/hot for dogs to go outside for any length of time, they go out front on a line and come back in. Didy - Pomeranian - is 12#.



Unfortunately, all of our dogs are really bad about leaving our property. Even after extensive work, their off leash/run loose "recalls" are terrible, so they no longer go out to the pony pasture (7 acres and they dig out under that fence, too, & take off into the forested areas around us - usually on neighbors property, not ours). They don't respect/know our property lines & putting in an underground electric wire - not really possible for us (our neighbors use it and their dog(s) end up here a lot). This past summer - I had a lot of chickens in my front yard in temporary pens (not true tractors, though they were moved around). They would scratch and the dog stuff would disappear into the ground - didn't have to pick it up. I can tell now that I haven't had birds out since the two hurricanes (the only free rangers I just had out - were pretty much decimated by a coyote on 12/11 - Larry said the dogs went crazy in back yard and ended up digging out of it - that may be why I didn't lose more birds, not sure. I know the 3 "bigger" dogs (Goblin, Lady, Zuzu) were out when I got home, I put them in the house & started finding bird bodies when I went to get eggs/feed birds/close coops...). Yesterday when I went out that way - it was a "mine field"... but it started raining last night, supposed to rain all day today, clear for a bit tomorrow & start raining again Sunday. My farrier said we're expecting 2-4" of rain, I didn't see that posted anywhere, but w/ that much rain we probably won't have a "minefield" left by mid-week. & you guessed it - the grass grows tallest/thickest where the dogs go or it gets washed downhill to that area... Next year, I will again be doing the tractor thing in our front yard - the chickens scratch & manure and we have the most beautiful grass in those areas this fall/winter (eventually, parts of those areas will become planted in flowers/veggies/fruit trees/shrubs - hasn't happened yet, LOL). Can tell where the pens were.



Building actual tractors that will be easier to move then moving loose wire pens. Also have some hot poultry netting will be using again, too, but our birds always seemed to like flying over it and thus weren't protected . I hadn't kept up with clipping wings, though, so that added to the issue, LOL.

So that you know, DLM and composting in place (composting period) is still pretty new to us. We'd never done any of that at previous properties that we leased (well actually the places that we did stack pony manure & spread every year, was composted). Chickens were new in 2011 but were almost totally free ranged when we first got them and roosted in the pony barn or our carport on the dog kennels (same ones in open back yard above used as actual dog yard). I wasn't a member of BYC then, and didn't really know about chicken coops. Manure cleaned up from them either went into burn pile or in w/ pony manure that was piled in sandy, unfenced area of our property.

2017 was the first time I dug out the DLM from chicken coops to use for gardening. Then my garden didn't get planted in 2018 - grew beds of weeds - after spent time out of state. I am working on de-weeding those beds now, have the seeds and will plant this year. It's amazing how fast the chickens break down the materials. Even strips, whole chunks of cardboard will compost down w/ their constant scratching. Bugs like to hide under strips of cardboard. The roses that benefited from the "carnivore compost" - they are still blooming right now, too! Amazing!! I've never been able to get roses to grow before. I did lose the white ones that were planted where the Russian Sage is now.



One thing I have learned/decided on - with my backyard coops already built/set up - garden needs to be closer to them so don't have to move compost as far in either direction. Doors on chicken pens/coops need to be wider to accommodate our Gorilla wagons and actual garden carts - will make chicken yard/coop work easier on the back. Different tractors need to be done for the pasture that can be more easily moved to help w/ amending the sand to soil. It's starting to come into place...

Both Larry and I work have worked pretty much full time this past year. My hours should be reduced when go back to work in January (will miss the $$, but ready to get more accomplished here, LOL) as we finally got more folks hired at the Clinic... Hopefully, they don't decide (as others have in the past) that the hard/fast pace of a high volume/low cost spay/neuter vet clinic is too much. I'm looking forward to having more time on the property - instead of leaving and returning in full dark... It's hard to even see the critters when I spend 6 months of the year only looking at them in the dark...