Composting chicken poo?

[Pat]

I also asked this question in the BY Chicken Forum ~
I'm getting a compost ready and my husband asks can you compost pine shaving???

I don't know???
Thanks~

 

[herbsherbsflowers]

Sure you can. You can compost most any plant material unless it is diseased. You'll need to mix in more manure and green material to balance it out, but it is just as good as leaves or any other brown material.

 

[Pat]

Thanks so much ~
I thought to myself OH NO what if I have to pick the poop out of the pine shavings... I don't think so!

 

[Mossy Rock]

I just cleaned our chicken coop out and spred the mixure of poop and wood shavings around my fruit trees and roses. As long asthe fruit trees are not blooming it is OK.

 

[okiemommy]

HA HA Pat I was thinking the SAME thing!! Glad to know that I wasnt the only one worried about that! LOL

 

[Buff Shallots]

We have four chickens, and last year, we started out composting the pine shavings mixed with chicken poo from the coop. But we found the shavings just would not break down, even after adding nitrogen supplements and compost bio-excelerator powder many times. I also stir the compost deeply with a pitchfork several times a week, all year long.

So now I just pick up the individual poo piles from the coop floor each morning and leave the shavings. (Keep in mind that this is easy and quick with only four chickens.)

Here's our two composter setup:

The bin on the left will probably take five years to break down because it is too ungainly to open and stir a few times a week like I do the composter on the right.

Here's the non-composted wood shavings after about a year of deterioration:

 

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

The pine shavings do seem to take forever to break down! I have found that the partially uncomposted shavings mixed in with my soil seems to aid in water retention. They may not break down very fast, but they are at least absorbant! No, they don't make it look like perfectly pretty dirt, but it is 100 degrees here and I have to water daily so anything helping me out I don't mind!

 

[Mossy Rock]

I take the wood shavings mixed with sand and chicken poop and add it to my garden in the off planting season. I spread it around fruit trees as long as they are not flowering or have fruit on them. My chickens will end up spreading it around for me I will water heavy at first to break it down. I will use it on scrubs and shade trees at anytime.

 

[backintime]

I've been reading this thread with interest . . . just started a coop with 8 chickens, right next to my garden which has PURE SAND. We draw from a small lake to water, so as long as we keep the garden moist, stuff grows fine despite the sandy soil.

Here's my question -- everyone using the deep litter method generally cleans out the coop in the spring. (Deep litter makes/keeps heat in winter, removing it all makes things cooler for summer) So if the shavings and poo aren't composted at that point, can I till them into the soil before spring planting when I remove them from the coop, or do I have to let the stuff mellow and till it in after harvest in the fall? Or worse yet, compost it until the FOLLOWING spring before tilling it in?

Thanks for helping a new chicken keeper & gardener!

 

[simple life]

There is alot of info on composting and deep litter method on the BYC site. I think Nifty is now in the process of deep litter method as well.
As far as I know, you still have to compost it. Its only in the coop for 6-9 months, depending on when you can't stand it anymore.
It usually would still have to be composted in with other materials, especially if it is not completely broken down so you don't burn your plants.
Some people will still put it around trees and shrubs the way it is but I am not sure how it would affect vegetable gardens.
I would go over to the BYC site and do a search on the deep litter method and read the threads on that.
The other thing to consider is if you are using any DE in the litter.Usually its required when you are doing that method for insect control. If its not food grade I would not put it into the compost.