What do I do with all the chicken poo?

[California_chickie]

Quote: I have to use DE every single time I clean the coop (every 2 weeks top to bottom) at first I started using it for mite control, and now it is just part of my regular routine since I have found it helps keep down the flies and makes the soil easier to work with when I rotate it.The animals don't mind & I like using it as a preventative. I have a small coop & run, so a 50lb bag will last me a long time & is way more cost effective than a smaller bag.

 

[katescountryfarm]

Our coop floor is the natural ground. Florida sand! I rarely have to scoop and if I do it gets tossed in the yard.

 

[ducklucky]

If you put it on fresh, you risk burning the plants if it is too close. If it is well "seasoned" you don't have to be so careful.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Don't have chickens yet myself, in my future tho. For now I go every couple months and clean out a neighbors coop for them, I do this to get the poop for my compost bins and gardens.

If you are getting smell issues from your compost pile I think that normally means too much GREEN material. I'm pretty sure that even though it's not Green in color the chicken poop is considered a green material for compost piles. So it would help for you to add layers of brown material between and over your poop additions to the pile. This can consist of shredded leaves, paper, straw, etc etc. I do get some smell right after loading the pile after a coop cleaning and then the first couple turns of the pile, after that it's odor free.

My other method for dealing with the poop is to trench compost it. I do this mostly for the fall and early winter cleanings. To trench compost your poop and bedding simply dig a trench in your garden and fill with the poop/bedding then cover over and let sit. It will age/breakdown over the winter then it just gets mixed in when I turn the garden in the spring. You can even trench compost in the summer if you just leave one row of your garden idle for the summer and use that as your trench, digging as much of it as you need each time. Depending on the amount of material you have to get rid of a plain hole in the garden works also, just make sure it's not too close to any growing plants.

For anyone who liked the wood and hardware cloth compost bin shown earlier on in this thread, here's a link to plans to build a 3 bin unit of the same design.

http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/publications/organics/44295054.pdf Jump to Page 9

You could also reduce it to two bins and smaller size. I've been using this 3 bin design for years and love it. I use the left bin for building up then when it's full I turn it into the middle bin. I then keep turning it between the middle and right hand bins till it's done or the left is full again. When the left is full again I turn the middle into the right bin and then turn the full one into the middle. Like the theory behind the compost tumblers the more you turn your compost the faster it breaks down.

 

[ambishop]

Permaculture expect Geoff Lawton gives a ratio of 20 parts carbon matter to 1 part poo for a perfect fertilizer in 20 days.

Layer sawdust, spent straw and hay with 20/1 poo and cover for 6 days. then turn every other day and cover again for 2 more weeks.

 

[jrottie]

I have 2 Boys that like to sit around the fire pit a couple of times a week with friends, so they clean the wood shavings out of the coop and start their fire with them. They simply put them in the pit, and lite them, and add their wood. By the time they are sitting around the fire, the chips are long gone. We only have 12 hens and a roo, so using the shavings out of the coop every few days doesnt create a mess or smell. When they grow up and leave home I will either have to start sitting around the fire, or find a new system....lol

 

[octoberh]

Hi I see you have a stink problem? Well if you have a garden and need fertilizer use the poop. If the smell is in a coop a good bedding and kepping poo smell out is grass

 

[katescountryfarm]

I never knew what to do with shavings I usually ended up "mulching" around trees lol. The fire pit idea is GREAT!!!

 

[hen howitzer]

We use a composter, and add our vegetable waste and coffee grinds to it. With 2 pots of coffee a day we add a good amount of grinds, and the nitrogen content of the grounds helps the compost along pretty well. We never have any smell. We just use straw in the coop and clean it out every few weeks and mix it in with the compost that is already going. We get some pretty good heat going inside and are careful to keep the compost wet like a damp sponge.

 

[bruceha2000]

I have a small coop & run, so a 50lb bag will last me a long time & is way more cost effective than a smaller bag.

That is why I asked. How long is a "Long time". Seems 12 bags would last a lifetime!

No question the large bag is MUCH more cost effective. I found that out with chicken feed. First bag for 2 day old chicks - 5# that lasted 2 weeks. Second 5# bag lasted 1 week. 3rd bag 25# and less than twice the price of a 5# bag! Now we are up to 'grower pellets' so its the 50# bag.