turning litter and bedding into compost

[TheWaddler]

Quote:
No no, it is popular among many BYCers to add DE *to* a deep-litter pack made of other normal materials (shavings, straw, etc), the intent being control of moisture and odors.

I do not think it's generally a good approach myself, but, free country.

Pat

I have often wondered this myself. Is DE hazardous to my compost? The only time I really use it in my coop/run is if the ladies get fleas/mites, other then that I just sprinkle a little in their food to keep the bugs down in it. My coop opens directly onto my compost so it is just a matter of scooping it all in and turning it but have wondered if DE is killing the bacteria/earthworms in my compost?

 

[patandchickens]

This question comes up a lot... AFAIK there has been no formal research on the question, but there are enough people who use significant quantities of DE in their bedding and compost it and report having noooo problems with the compost that I would tend to believe it's not an issue. (This does not shock me; for one thing, when mixed thru a compost pile *and then* the compost further mixed into garden soil, the amount of DE per unit volume of soil is tiny; for another thing, the effect of DE primarily occurs when it is DRY, whereas soil critters are typically in moist soil.)

But, as I say, I do not know of any quantitative and controlled studies being done, so it is sort of 'at your own risk'.

Pat

 

[chellejeff]

Quote:
Pine leaves? Never heard of such a thing. Pine needles I've heard of. If you mean pine needles, I can tell you they take forever to break down. If you're planning to use pine needles for composting it'll be ready in about 10 years.

 

[Redley]

Quote:
Pine leaves? Never heard of such a thing. Pine needles I've heard of. If you mean pine needles, I can tell you they take forever to break down. If you're planning to use pine needles for composting it'll be ready in about 10 years.

oops, yes, I did mean pine needles.
It sounded funny when I typed pine leaves.

 

[KingJamesIV]

So I went about 9 months and the litter was about a foot deep. It never seemed to compost. It just smelled like Chicken poop. I didn't quite understand how the DLM worked when my wife told me that is what we were doing. I just took about 3 blocks of pine shavings and spread them on the floor. That was wrong so this time around may work better.

 

[classicsredone]

Quote:
No no, it is popular among many BYCers to add DE *to* a deep-litter pack made of other normal materials (shavings, straw, etc), the intent being control of moisture and odors.

I do not think it's generally a good approach myself, but, free country.

Pat

I have often wondered this myself. Is DE hazardous to my compost? The only time I really use it in my coop/run is if the ladies get fleas/mites, other then that I just sprinkle a little in their food to keep the bugs down in it. My coop opens directly onto my compost so it is just a matter of scooping it all in and turning it but have wondered if DE is killing the bacteria/earthworms in my compost?

DE won't harm bacteria. The jury is out on if it harms worms, though. Actively managed compost piles are moist, so DE would be inactive. Hot piles also won't have a lot of worms, so it shouldn't be a big deal. If you don't hot compost and instead keep a cool pile, just keeping it moist would keep the DE from harming any beneficial bugs.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

So I went about 9 months and the litter was about a foot deep. It never seemed to compost.

It's not going to compost in the coop.

It's there to keep things dry, and compost requires a lot of moisture to break down​

 

[farmer_lew]

Every time I clean out the coop/run, everything goes right into the compost pile. Plus, the girls free-range the backyard, so they drop "fertilizer" all over, all day. We are turning ground now for our garden. (I say we, but HHandbasket is really the one doing all the ground breaking.) I had to put a fence up around the garden area to keep the girls out. They were just being a little to "helpful" to the DW.