what to do with the poo and dirty bedding? advice please.....

[Cavendish Chickens]

Okay, we use straw for bedding. We've been putting the old straw spread out in the run area when we clean the coop and nest box out to help add more warmth for the winter. Well now there is enough straw, I don't want to add any more. As for the poo, I've heard two good ideas... put it in the garden as fertilizer, and till it into the ground in the run. Well, with what I've done, I can't till it into the ground right now. And now gardens in the winter. So what should I do with the poo and straw during the winter? Winter has only just started in our area... 5th day of December... 5th day of winter. So it's still early. I need any and all advice. We do have a fire pit... but won't be doing any fires until spring or summer has set in. And that would be a lot of straw built up over winter. Oh what to do?? Please help! Thanks!

 

[chiks_rule]

I compost my Chicken and Horse poo. If I am starting a new bed to plant in the Spring I will use the sheet composting technique and use the fresh poo in their otherwise it's to "Hot" to use straight in the garden.

 

[purr]

I throw it in a big compost pile behind the shed

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I use pine shavings in my coops, but the principal is the same. In the winter I dump mine straight into the flower beds and veggie garden. Come spring and summer I dump it all on the compost heap to use later on. The poo is too hot to put on young plants, but it is fine around trees and shrubs. I figure it will mature in place all winter and then I can till it under in the spring and be fine.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Compost it. We pile ours in a block composter until spring, but before that we just made a pile in the corner of the garden.

 

[Cavendish Chickens]

You can't throw the poop straight into the garden? Does it hurt the plants? We keep flower beds and a veggie garden. But... no compost. Never have. This is our first year with chickens, so still learning what to do. No horses, no farm... just back yard chickens. Maybe we'll need to invest in a compost sometime soon. As for now... what can we do with the straw and poo until we do get a compost?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

You can start a compost in a heap in a seldom used section of the yard at any time. no need for commercial composters or bins. You can do it with trash cans, which will more than pay for themselves in the garden in produce this coming Spring

Just designate an area to pile it up, till it in the garden in the Spring.

 

[Cavendish Chickens]

Okay. I think we can do that. How often do you flip... or stir... the pile?


*side note* How long does it take to turn into soil? (Will be straw and poo both)

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

When I say I throw it on the compost heap I really mean a pile in the back corner of the yard where I pile all the biodegradeably yard refuse. I'm a lazy composter so I don't turn it or anything. I just pile it up. Grass clippings, dead flower stalks, chicken poo, shavings, etc all get tossed on the pile. Over time it decomposes and turns into really swell dirt. Periodically I go back and shovel out what I need from the bottom. But seriously, in the winter I just toss the shavings and poo directly onto the flower beds and veggie garden. No sense hauling it twice. It will decompose in place just as well as it will in the back of the yard. Plus, the shavings act like mulch and help keep the weeds down. I turn it under come spring and plant away. Easy peasy.

 

[GAchick]

Quote:
You don't 'get'a compost..... You 'make compost...You pile up the poo/straw mixture. You pile more poo/straw on top of it..... Then you pile more poo/straw on top of that.... Are you detecting a pattern here...? lol You can make a fancy compost bin, if you must. But basically, a big ole pile of poo/ straw, turned and mixed a few times over the winter, will turn into the most beautiful, rich, good for your garden compost you ever saw.... Brown gold enrichment...