Too many veggies?

[sylviethecochin]

If you get a lot of worms to break it down, then the compost won't stink nearly as much.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I talked to the produce guy at the local market and he said I could come by everyday if I want and get a box of trimmings, mostly the stuff they trim off to make the veggies pretty, yesterdays box had some ears of corn and broccoli. I have picked up two boxes so far, yesterday it must have weighed 40 pounds. I dump it in the coop/run deep litter over dirt and in two days you can barely see anything left. This is my first year with chickens, my flock of 7 is 10-11 weeks old now. The deep litter until now has been wood chips, pine flakes and timothy hay. It has been getting hot and the litter needs moisture and more greens to compost but I am worried that maybe 75-100 pounds of veggies a week too much? Now realize its a lot of water weight and presumably its getting turned into the litter so they are not eating all of it. Next week we are having a heatwave, two days it will hit 100 which is hot in the mountains and I was thinking a nice cold box of veggies would go over really well. Is there such thing as too many veggies? They do have grit and starting next week will be having a big chicken yard to get even more if they want it.

Thanks

Gary

All the roadside produce guys in our area know me. I stop and collect tons of veggie scrap for all my swine. Stuff like corn, toms, cukes etc I give to the poultry in moderation.
I save them from having to load up their trash.. Which is not really considered trash for live stock!

 

[lazy gardener]

Would it stink if I started composting on that scale? Small town here, 2500 people I could find a partner on Facebook, actually my next door neighbor comes to mind but they are REALLy against GMO's and I wonder if they would compost anything they were unsure if there was GMO's involved....

If I had more hens and not worried about production going down I would give it all to them and compost in the coop.... chicken math? Lol, I am already pushing (through) the local limits so thats not really an option. I need to talk the next door neighbor into a flock....

If I let them have it all, 7 hens 5-6 boxes a week is there a way to offset the nutritional needs without getting complicated? Like feeding tuna or other high protein to supplement in addition to the veggies and 17% layer?

Thanks

Gary

If you have your compost balanced, then, it should not stink. It all depends on how much time and energy you have to invest in larger scale composting. Simply picking the stuff up every day and bringing it home is a bit of a time commitment, yes? How much space do you have available in your yard for a compost bin? How much space in your run? Any town ordinances, or will there be any neighbor objections from a compost pile? You could make a nice looking double bin, say: 4 x 4 x 4 ft. on each side, stock pile some hay or straw to provide the high carbon matter, and perhaps even have those bins accessible from the run on one side (perhaps a big pop door towards the top of each bin) and open to you from the other side. So, you could either allow chooks to have access to the bins all the time, or only when you choose to allow them access. Of course the simpler method would be to simply dump the stuff in their run, and toss a few flakes of hay on top of it every day or so. But, it will heat up A LOT, so if I was composting on this scale, I might want to keep it separate in bins. (while still keeping DL in the run)

If you find that your compost gets ahead of your own personal needs, you can bag it in your old feed bags and sell it. Particularly, if it has some chicken poo blended in, the gardeners in the area will be having fist fights in your yard over those bags of finished compost.

I really can't answer your question about trying to balance all of that vegetable matter in the chicken's diet. I would offer them their usual layer ration, and see how it goes. They will pick up a lot of nutrients from the veggies. And they will pick up a LOT of nutrients from the developing compost and the beneficial insects that are attracted to the compost.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

If you have your compost balanced, then, it should not stink. It all depends on how much time and energy you have to invest in larger scale composting. Simply picking the stuff up every day and bringing it home is a bit of a time commitment, yes? How much space do you have available in your yard for a compost bin? How much space in your run? Any town ordinances, or will there be any neighbor objections from a compost pile? You could make a nice looking double bin, say: 4 x 4 x 4 ft. on each side, stock pile some hay or straw to provide the high carbon matter, and perhaps even have those bins accessible from the run on one side (perhaps a big pop door towards the top of each bin) and open to you from the other side. So, you could either allow chooks to have access to the bins all the time, or only when you choose to allow them access. Of course the simpler method would be to simply dump the stuff in their run, and toss a few flakes of hay on top of it every day or so. But, it will heat up A LOT, so if I was composting on this scale, I might want to keep it separate in bins. (while still keeping DL in the run)

If you find that your compost gets ahead of your own personal needs, you can bag it in your old feed bags and sell it. Particularly, if it has some chicken poo blended in, the gardeners in the area will be having fist fights in your yard over those bags of finished compost.

I really can't answer your question about trying to balance all of that vegetable matter in the chicken's diet. I would offer them their usual layer ration, and see how it goes. They will pick up a lot of nutrients from the veggies. And they will pick up a LOT of nutrients from the developing compost and the beneficial insects that are attracted to the compost.

Yes, simpler method dump in run for me or it will not happen!
My coop is open air pretty much open air, big open sections in the walls covered in HW cloth and 3 big windows and nice big high vents (click on my link for pics) and no real separate run it is 168 sq ft with a dirt floor. I have access to free wood chips from the tree trimmers, working off a big pile now I will have to buy hay, I will ask about chemicals the feed store I go to is almost all non GMO feeds so I am hoping the hay is sourced from more natural sources but unsure.

I just went to the market and he reiterated I could come every day so nobody else lining up right now.

My flock is 15 weeks old today so not laying yet so I will have nothing to compare with as far as laying rate going up or down.

I am leaning towards picking it up daily for a few weeks and see how it goes. As far as getting hot it has not so far but I will monitor it, maybe do something outside coop as well if its too much .

Thanks

Gary

 

[Lazy Farmer]

, if it has some chicken poo blended in, the gardeners in the area will be having fist fights in your yard over those bags of finished compost.
.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

We have a lot of compost to spread around my place before it gets bagged and sold!

Gary