Composting chicken poop

[SandraMort]

I'm hoping to have chickens in a month or so and use the deep litter method. I want to plant raised beds in the spring If I let the litter go all winter long, then haul it out to the garden, how close to ready will it be to using? Do I need to leave it in a pile to age for longer before I can mix it in with soil, or can I work on my garden amendments in the barn all winter long and then shlep it out in the spring and fill my planters with it? If that's the case, what do I mix it with for my planters? If it matters, the planters will be probably two feet deep. Not sure how long.

 

[akyramoto]

I personally let my chicken poo compost it least 4 months, if not longer. I don't use the deep litter method. I have straw that gets taken out to the compost pile every week or two.

I would recommend letting it compost in the pile for awhile. I would say it wouldn't be ready for that spring's garden, but maybe fall. I also recommend mixing alot of other things into it - like kitchen scraps, etc. give the compost pile some variety & help 'cool' off the chicken poo.

I'm not an expert!! lol thats just what I would do.

I've also heard that some people have had a hard time getting the sawdust or woodchips to break down. I have no experience with that since I use straw.

when it comes time to plant - I would mix the compost with soil - I dont have a ratio for you though. I just dont think you should use straight compost.

 

[panner123]

My D W does the composting, but I help. Any chicken poop is composted form August to August. She adds everything to it, kitchen left overs, top soil horse and cow manure, you name it. Then we put it in the area she wants to garden the next year. After some 35+ years she has some ogf the best soil around. We started with red clay. That stuff you needed a jack hammer to break. Now we go out with a spade to turn the soil. It takes time and a LOT of work to get the soil right.

 

[patandchickens]

I'm hoping to have chickens in a month or so and use the deep litter method. I want to plant raised beds in the spring If I let the litter go all winter long, then haul it out to the garden, how close to ready will it be to using? Do I need to leave it in a pile to age for longer before I can mix it in with soil, or can I work on my garden amendments in the barn all winter long and then shlep it out in the spring and fill my planters with it? If that's the case, what do I mix it with for my planters? If it matters, the planters will be probably two feet deep. Not sure how long.

Remind us what zone or region you're in, and how many chickens? Reason being, speed of composting depends a lot on temperature/weather and on the size of the pile.

IIRC you are going to have a whopping number of chickens? If so, I would make several separate piles, so that the earliest-origin ones can be used in Spring and the ones from later in the winter can sit for longer. (Even with deep litter, it is quite possible and sometimes desirable to regularly remove the pooiest parts of the litter, e.g. under the roosts, so having *some* early compostables is not inconsistant with deep litter management).

Good planning and management will hasten composting (make piles as large as possible, as nearly cubical as possible, keep the proper moisture, insulate the top in subfreezing weather, and turn periodically).

You would need to mix the compost with a lot of soil, or some reasonable facsimile thereof, to put in your beds for growing. I would not go less than one part compost to 4 parts soil, or you will get into watering and nutrient issues.

So if you really want to make 2' deep raised beds you are going to either be digging a BIG ol' hole somewhere, or buying a bunch of trucked-in dirt. FWIW, it is a lot easier and more effective to make your raised beds like 6-12" high (the roots will grow down into the native soil below, as well). The only reason to go higher is if you are planting on solid bedrock or something like that or need handicapped accessibility.

Have fun,

Pat