what to do with poop and shavings

[djswett]

When I clean the inside of the coop, I end up with a huge pile of wood shavings caked with chicken poop. I can't think of a way of separating the two so to keep the very fertil droppings but discard the shavings....
Any ideas?

 

[Monk]

It goes to the compost pile to be used in the garden later.

 

[naturegrrl]

We put all of the poopy bedding from our girls into our compost, and it breaks down very nicely (we use pine or alder shavings). Sometimes we use some of the shavings as mulch, as well. As long as enough wet matter goes into the compost, the shavings don't unbalance the mix, and everything breaks down as it should, giving us nice, fluffy soil for the garden.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. It goes into my compost piles.

 

[Casey3043]

Dump it in the garden, spread it out, till it in. Plant veggies next spring and stand back!

 

[djswett]

Cool.
I'm just a little afraid that the wood is gonna take FOREVER to break down. I live in the high desert, and our compost pile is a bit dry.

But I'll give it a shot and see how it does.

Thank you,
bryan.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You do need to keep the compost pile damp. You don't want it too wet, but if it is too dry, it can take years to break down. You can get it damp them wrap or cover it with plastic to keep the moisture in.

The normal mixture of wood chips and chicken manure is usually high in carbon compared to the nitrogen in it. There is a certain balance that really speeds up the process. You'd probably benefit by adding something high in nitrogen to your pile. Fresh grass clippings may be a little rare in the desert but you could add some high nitrogen fertilizer. Pure chicken droppings or other manures are pretty high in nitrogen but the wood chips add a lot of carbon. If you are patient and keep it damp, it will eventually get there.

 

[Anny]

I save all my shaving/bedding and poop, and garden waste and put it in my compost heap, at the end of summer I put the straw and shavings over the garden beds to put them to rest for the winter, and to give them all that good ol' chicken poop, or I put the shavings and straw (with poop) around my trees to help them out.

 

[dixiechick]

I planted fruit trees beside our coop...that way I don't have so far to walk to "mulch" them with the shavings.