moving my compost

[bj taylor]

i have had passive compost for years. i would just pick a place & throw kitchen waste & plant waste there. never got compost per se to use, although it would become a nice planting spot. i have been using a 3 bin system for several years now & this year was the first time i actually used compost for my garden.
now that i have chickens, and i think poop has been the missing link, i'm going to move the compost operation into the chicken run & see what happens.

 

[journey11]

Hey, your chickens will love that. They are little garbage disposals. It's better to toss your kitchen scraps, including meats and stuff you wouldn't otherwise put in your compost and they'll make quick work of it.

 

[canesisters]

It was suggested to me that IN the chicken run wouldn't be the best location because they will scatter it as far as they can while eating all of the hard working worms.
Close to the coop would be a great idea. Maybe even right next to it or even as a seperate but attached area. That way you could let them at it when you dump something new and let them work it in but keep them from really tearing it up.

 

[baymule]

I throw EVERYTHING in the chicken coop and run! Broccoli plants, all the sweet potato vines, corn cobs and shucks, pea hulls, sawdust, leaves, grass clippings, bananna peels, milo plants, okra trimmings, tomato peels, kitchen scraps, leftovers, garden weeds, pine needles, anything and everything. What they don't eat, they scratch, peck and poop on. I dig out the coop once or twice a year and reap the rewards.

When I dig it out, (about 1 to 1 1/2 feet deep) I spread lime (not hydrated-it burns) and let it dry and air out a few days. It stinks and is wet and draws gnats. I spray the chickens on the roost in the evenings with vanilla to keep the gnats off of them. In a few days, the coop floor is dry and I start over. I usually start off with sawdust.

My coop floor and run are both dirt floored.

 

[retiredwith4acres]

I am a failure at composting! I even have the double drum composter and still a failure!

 

[canesisters]

Oh my goodness Retired, don't say that.

Maybe you just need to try something different. Back in Feb I had a complete compost failure (and I really needed it to work). I got some great advise here and with a little hard work it's gotten going and is cooking along great. I can't wait to start planting soon.


BJ, what ever happened with yours? Did you move it into the chicken pen?

 

[catjac1975]

I refer to chicken poop as instant compost.

 

[digitS']

I had a drum composter years & years ago. It did a horrible job making compost!

My brother had one more recently and gave it to Dad - who never used it. I was gardening in Dad's backyard at the time and refused to use it also.

I think what they take is frequent attention - checking, adding this & that, turning, turning . . . I wasn't going to do that! I went to an 18 month schedule and that works fine. Also, I do composting-in-place and pit composting. I think all those terms apply to what I'm up to . . . or, should.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Another perspective on composting in the chicken run...
I hoard bagged leaves in the fall, and the ones that don't go on the garden in the fall I save, and dump in the run when it's getting muddy, or they're getting bored. They shred it nicely and work it into the soil, then once a year , when I can carve out the time I get in there and haul it out to put on the beds Best done in the fall, unless you have some beds that you will fallow during the season.

I also feed them alfalfa occasionally and sometimes I let them play with a few flakes of straw. The point is, it's broken down and manured nicely and real handy for bed dressing.

 

[ducks4you]

MY silly birds decided that the horse's hay that I swept up hastily to add to their brooding area was Food.
ALL gone next day.
Didn't have time to grab any straw in the loft.
Guess they didn't get the Memo.