Used pine chips... Compost?

[farmerwannab]

Has anyone added the dirty pine chips from their coop to their vegetable garden compost?

I keep hearing chicken poo is great fertilizer and I know wood chips decompose nicely. Any thoughts?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I do. The wood chips don't decompose all that quickly, but that is not that big of a problem.

 

[donrae]

I do. That and horse poo are the basis of my veggie garden.

Anyone want some zucchini?

 

[Hoosierchickens]

I compost it too but the wood chips take forever to compost.

 

[Fred's Hens]

We only spread the litter from late September through March. Never during the growing season.
Practice good manure guidelines and gardening to be confident about the foods you raise. This link is the easiest, clearest, and very understandable.

http://umaine.edu/publications/2510e/

I agree that wood shavings, depending on type of wood used, can take awhile to decompose.

 

[terryg]

I use pine shavings to in the coop and the goat stall. It makes wonderful compost if you give it time. I find that it helps to balance the heaviness of the chicken manure. I have two systems for compost. I like to get the chicken manure out of the way and give it a lot of time to mature, and also to break any parasitic cycle. Everything else goes into a compost IN the chicken run. The chickens shred what they don't eat to bits and it breaks down quickly. A compost pile in their run gives them something to do. I have photos in these two FAQs:
http://hencam.com/faq/chicken-manure-management/
http://hencam.com/faq/compost-in-the-chicken-run/

 

[devora]

Yup. Pine shavings and droppings get cleared out twice a year. They rest for months w/ a turn or three, then go in w/ my veggies.