What to do with those old shavings?

[FrenchHen]

you can post an ad on Craigslist and someone will happily come get them.

BUT, put them around shrubs or fruit trees. or save them and mulch teh garden in winter. Then till them under next spring.

They don't have to be broken down completely to go in the garden. We used ours on potatoes last year and got some great potatoes!

 

[Tikka]

There is a hole in my yard that I have been dumping the chick stuff in. I am setting up a composter for my hen stuff.

 

[imthedude]

i don't have a problem with the poop. it will go in the garden, what i can get out of the shavings anyway. i'm wondering about the shavings themselves - what to do with them. i'm guessing that since they're woody they won't compost well at all. am i wrong?

 

[FrenchHen]

They compost great! They won't break down completely, but the hot poopy ick will break down. We love it for our garden because it helps lighten our heavy clay soil.
When we turned our garden last year, we found that the chips had attracted thousands of earthworms.

 

[Olive Hill]

You've gotten great suggestions so far, but I have to ask. Why will composting them take too long? If you were thinking you couldn't use them immediately anyway.... I'm confused. "It takes too long" is a reason for not composting I had not heard before. Creative... but new.

 

[8HesperiaChickens]

I am using my wood shavings to cover the pathway in my veggie garden. The manure will leach out and go into the root systems of the plants.

 

[gryeyes]

When I pulled the used bedding out of the coop, I couldn't rake it into my TubTruk carrier all at once. I mostly picked out the poops I could see with some of the shavings, took it to the compost pile, and then took a rest break. (I tire easily - take lots of breaks when doing gardening or building the coop(s).)

Came back to discover the chickens were having a grand old time spreading the old bedding shavings behind the coop over the ground in the run. Hmmmmmm. So I never got back to raking up the old bedding.... Rainy season is MOSTLY over here, and in two days, they had that stuff over quite a distance and it's a whole lot better than the ugly, naked earth run used to be!

 

[imthedude]

Quote:
woody materials break down much more slowly than plant matter like grass clippings, fruits and veggies, etc., thus the reason i don't want to put them in the compost pile; however, if they do break quickly, then i'll give it a shot in the compost pile.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

They take a long time if they aren't mixed with anything. They need the wet/green/nitrogen things to break down faster. Chicken poop qualifies, as well as other compost ingredients. All the things that if composted alone, turn into a wet, stinking mess. So, it works out pretty great.

 

[Hunny]

Any additional information to know when using pine shavings?

Looks as thou I'll be making a home made composter here soon.

**Hunny