I put it [dog manure] into a bucket as I find it, then go dump the contents from time to time... Usually once a week when it isn't hot (smell factor calculation
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I don't have a dog. But I have neighbors with dogs that sometimes visit my yard and leave their business cards out on the lawn. I just scoop it up with a shovel and walk it over to the tall grass in the forest edge of my property. No bucket system for me. But like I said, it's only the occasional visiting dog that I have to clean up after. Maybe only a few times a year normally.
Sorry it didn't work, but grateful you passed along the info. I don't know if my low guilt threshold might have put me up to "trying" but now I can just "pass" on the experience thanks to yours.
I don't think anybody should have to feel guilty about not composting dog manure. Although it is possible, I think it is way too much effort for the benefit. I don't do either hot composting or Bokashi bucket composting, so I am not advocating for those methods. Just wanted to say it is possible.
I got the most beautiful finished compost! Seriously, I wanted to roll in it! It smelled amazing and it felt like .... I don't know, like soil under the trees in a forest. It smelled clean, like rain and sunshine and, just good clean EARTH. It was almost a spiritual experience for me. I made DIRT, lol! I could grow things in it. I don't even care if I sound stupid. "IYKYK."
Count me in your camp, too. Except for maybe wanting to roll in the compost!
I tell everybody that my chicken run compost smells like a forest floor. It should because most of my organics in the chicken run are grass clippings and leaves. My chickens add some poo to the mix, but in the big picture of things, it's a very small amount of chicken manure to lots and lots of other organics.
There is a satisfying smell to rich, finished, black gold compost that you made yourself - or with the chickens. You just know that it must be good for the plants in the garden beds. And it is.
I don't do hot composting, but my chicken run litter is as deep as 18 inches at the front of the chicken run. If we don't get much rain for a long period of time, sometimes it might get too hot and then it smells like burnt grass. A few summers ago, we went for about 3 months without rain, and I had to set a sprinkler to water the compost in the run to keep it at that magical wrung out sponge state for cold composting. The nose knows, and if I ever smell anything out of balance, it's usually corrected with a little water or another layer of leaves/carbon on top.
Normally, I never have to do anything with the litter in my chicken run composting system. The chickens are constantly turning it with their scratching and pecking, keeping everything in balance for cold composting. All I do is continue to add organic matter to the run as I get it - mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, pulling weeds from the garden, etc..
And if I have not mentioned it recently, I typically am rewarded every year with hundreds of dollars worth of high quality chicken run compost that I put into my raised bed gardens, where I grow people food for the family.
I don't know if it worth your time or effort, but at least it is possible.
My girls are awesome garden helpers! They turn bugs and weeds into Nitrogen!
I bought the power cutter because my hands are getting old and if I used a heavy-duty manual scissors, my old hands would start to cramp up in no time. That's why I never bothered cutting up heavy packing cardboard boxes before. But now I do.
