SCORE!! Got Leaves!

[catjac1975]

I get truckloads of chopped leaves in the fall from a landscaper. He delivers them and puts them anywhere I want. The dump would charge him to dispose of the leaves. I use them as garden mulch, particularly for my vast daylily beds, mulching after weeding. I have done this for 4 years now and the soil is so gorgeous now. I am mulching with the piles now from last fall and they will last on the beds through next winter.

 

[baymule]

Do you develop much of a smell with the deep-litter leaf compost? I'm worried that my little coop/run will start to smell, and my neighbor won't like it much. Even though he's a gardener and sometimes spreads chicken poo in his garden, and I can smell it for weeks. Even though.

Our houses are really close together (like, 6' apart). I don't have a large enough lot to put the chicken coop (so I'm just building a run! HA!) far enough away from neighbor houses per the zoning ordinances. I don't anticipate any problems with the neighbors... unless it becomes a nuisance of one sort or another.

Joz, I don't get much of a smell at all. It it does get a little smelly, I just put more litter in there. I also hang those Christmas tree auto air fresheners in the vanilla scent to keep flies away. I buy them at Walmart in the auto section.

Right now the coop and run need digging out, but we have had several hard rains and it does get smelly when wet. I need to trench around the coop and run again so the water can run off. (our house and yard are on a slope) It is heavier when it is damp, so waiting for it to dry out a little better. But I could still throw more litter in there to cover it up if I wanted to.

When I dig it out, that exposes the damp bottom and it does smell. I use lime to help dry it out, don't buy hydrated lime because that will burn their feet. Also it will attract and breed gnats which will attack the hens. I spray the hens with vanilla at night when they are on the roost and that keeps the gnats from biting the girls. After a few days to air and dry out, I start over with litter. I use sawdust or leaves, anything that I can pile in the coop and run.

To keep your neighbor from complaining, tell him ahead of time and offer him some of the "compost". You can also dig out the coop several times a year versus the once a year that I do. Maybe even time it with the neighbor's gardening schedule!

 

[boggybranch]

Ohhhhh yeah........Jackpot.......