Where do you put the dirty bedding when you clean the coop?

[Billy-jean]

I find the straw takes a long time to break down,,mine is in a compost bin I made,but it's not doing much
am I doing something wrong? I also just make a pile inside their outside run, and it seems to go away faster..but I
get afraid of it molding over time..

 

[mlm Mike]

Compost pile, then to garden.

 

[actressbarbie]

We use hay. All the waste goes into a 5 gal bucket until the bucket is full. Sometimes people with gardens ask for it. Otherwise, we fill the bucket with water and let it "cook" for a few hours. Then water the flowers, trees, whatever. Like the others have said, the material (hay, pine shavings) will breakdown. We just mow over it.

 

[claudicles]

I find the straw takes a long time to break down,,mine is in a compost bin I made,but it's not doing much
am I doing something wrong? I also just make a pile inside their outside run, and it seems to go away faster..but I
get afraid of it molding over time..

Composting is a bit like cooking. To get the right end result you have to get the ingredients right and process it properly. It needs to be slightly moist like a wringed out sponge. It also needs to be the right mix of so called carbons and nitrogens - neither of which are just carbon or nitrogen. Straw is a carbon, unless it is heavily soiled with chicken poo. You may find mixing in some fresh grass clippings will heat it up. Regular turning helps too. There should be plenty of beginners guides to composting around. I can't point you to one as I've been composting for 40 years or so and haven't read up on it in ages. Hopefully someone else may be able to. BTW it should not mould unless it is not heating up. Does it feel warm inside the pile? The heapn your run is probably breaching down better if it gets moist with the rain.

 

[stone_family3]

I found my hay did not compost very well I'm hoping when I do a full clean out I'll be able to find some people who want it for their gardens.

I'm switching to pine bedding when I do the big clean out.

 

[Tressa27884]

I use corn cob bedding on the bottom of the coop floor, pine shavings in the nesting boxes, and hay on the floor of the run. I throw all of it together and rototil it into my garden area about once a month. As an added benefit, I also use DE in the nesting boxes, so the soil has DE in it all ready which helps quell the bug population in my garden. The hay is the last to go away, but it is a good weed block. So far my results have been pretty good - and for whatever it's worth the DE doesn't seem to kill the earthworms - not sure why.

 

[wood&feathers]

Compost! It is pure gold on the garden. I tend to rake the sand run for straight poop. That goes into a wheelbarrow, along with soiled straw from the coop. It seems to break down fine in my pile. I don't have anything fancy, just a pile on the ground. I do turn it when adding a load, but not really more than once a week.