What do I do with all the chicken poo?

[jecombs]

I only have a couple of chickens (hoping to get more soon). What do you do with all the poo? I've got a compost pile, but how do I keep it from getting stinky? Add lime? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I throw mine in a pile with grass clipping and throw a tarp loosely over it. Unless the poop stands out directly exposed to the rain, you shouldn't have an issue with the smell.

 

[nightshutter]

Im starting to do green waste compost in a garbage can. I cleaned out the chicken poop and shavings from the coop yesterday and put them in the compost pile.

 

[jecombs]

My compost pile is not covered, so maybe that's why it stinks. Arrg! It has also been unbelievably rainy here for the past couple of weeks. We've been getting drowned at least once a day and that's when I noticed the smell starting to be a problem.

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

I try and time the coop cleaning with the lawn cutting or garden weeding. I find a layer of green over the poop helps to keep the odor down. Getting wet really does bring out the stink

but it also does help with the composting process

 

[Mattemma]

I just dump mine in the yard,and use the resulting poo mulch the following season.A pile here and there.No cover.No mixing.No smell. I use pine shaving bedding.

 

[donrae]

Well, I only clean my coop out about once a year. By then there's a lot of shavings and much of the poo has already broken down so it's not really an issue. Compost pile or onto a garden bed that's going to lie fallow for a season, then tilled in. If you're having this much issues I suggest you look into a deep litter method of coop bedding. Makes life much easier. I have so many better things to do than clean up chicken poo all the time.

 

[jecombs]

I've been looking into the deep litter method and think I will try it this winter. I've been cleaning the coop a lot lately because it has been so hot. I'm worried that letting the bedding sit in the coop and compost will roast my little chickies!

We usually don't bag our grass clippings, but I will talk to the hubs about bagging enough to cover the chicken-poo-mulch-pile. Thanks for all the good suggestions!

 

[Back on the Farm]

In addition to the chicken poop and grass clippings add kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy) to your compost pile. I have two small containers on my kitchen counter - one for scraps/treats for the chickens and one for the compost pile. Don't forget to turn your pile from time to time as that helps with the break down/composting process and smell. If you smell it when you are in your house, you may want to move it downwind of your house.

I built a compost bin out of 5 free wooden pallets - one on the bottom & four sides. I then lined it with black landscaping cloth to keep the compost from coming out the sides. It gets air on all sides. I turn it a few times every few weeks. It smells a bit when it needs turning or after we get some rain. Anything that can be composted goes in the bin - both my rabbit hutch bedding and the chicken coop bedding - I use deep liter and it has worked out good.

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

I've been looking into the deep litter method and think I will try it this winter. I've been cleaning the coop a lot lately because it has been so hot. I'm worried that letting the bedding sit in the coop and compost will roast my little chickies!

We usually don't bag our grass clippings, but I will talk to the hubs about bagging enough to cover the chicken-poo-mulch-pile. Thanks for all the good suggestions!

I use deep litter and the poop doesn't give off a compost heat. It kind of dries up and settles to the bottom. Works so well and so little work...the only trouble I am always struggling with is when they are messy with the water and the shavings get wet = smelly and flies. Today the coop is getting a full clean out and I am going to paint the wallys and rearrange things so the water is in less of a traffic path. Enjoy your expanding flock. There is something about owning chickens that seems to destroy the ability to make mathematical calculations. We started with wanted 6 and somehow there got to be 17 out there!