How do you compost your chicken poo?

[greenmulberry]

Just wondering what the chicken owners on the board do with the cleanings from the hen house. I must admit I have had chickens since July and have not yet needed to clean the hen house, as I am practicing the "deep litter method", I keep adding shavings on top of the old. But come spring I will shovel it all out and start over.

I was thinking of just putting it right on top of one of my regular compost piles. I had been planning on laying it out where I wanted a new garden to go, but don't know how long to wait before planting as I know it must age.

 

[BeckyFl]

Yes, I'd like some ideas on this subject also. Right now I just throw it on a pile of mowed grass and dead weeds in the yard and hope for mulch. I think I may need to do more than that but I don't know what.

 

[silkiechicken]

I just leave it where it lays and move the coop! Then I dig holes into it and plant some nitrogen loving thingsl like zucchinis.

 

[henrietta23]

I just leave it where it lays and move the coop! Then I dig holes into it and plant some nitrogen loving thingsl like zucchinis.

Now I'm imagining zucchinis the size of baseball bats taking over the yard!!!

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, seriously.... I have accidently missed a few and one got to be over two feet long and weighted 6 lbs. I gotta find that picture...

 

[Blisschick]

I've seen zucchini do that...miss one day, and you could make a canoe out of one!

I used to just toss it out in the garden area to set for the winter, then till it all under in the spring. Nowadays, I have an old broken down wheelbarrow that I'm dumping it, but I have to lay some wire and brick on top to keep the turkeys from digging in it. The stuff on the bottom is nice, but the new stuff on the top is still hot. I probably should turn it more often.

 

[Nifty]

Glad we have this topic started! Here is my page on composting:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/compost.php

You would think that the "browns" from the shavings and the nitrogen "greens" from the poop would get the thing cooking once it gets wet. Well, that never really works for me.

What I've found gets the pile cooking really hot really fast (and therefore speeds up composting exponentially) is to mix the shavings and litter with some freshly mowed grass and a couple shovels of mid life compost. This always gets my compost going.

My worry about putting it right in my garden is the fact that it might burn the plants because of the strong nitrogen content in the poop. I like a nice clean looking compost (no big shavings or globs of poo), so the extra work of mixing it and waiting for it to biodegrade is worth it to me.

If you are impatient, just pile it all up in a bin (purchased or homemade), give it a soak of water, cover it and let nature do its work. May take a little longer but it will eventually produce nice finished compost.

 

[Blisschick]

My worry about putting it right in my garden is the fact that it might burn the plants because of the strong nitrogen content in the poop.

We have a large area and not a lot of shavings at once, so it really balances out in the long run. Our soil is very acidic, so every bit of nitrogen helps.

 

[2468Gardeningisgr8]

I have just cleaned out the chicken coop and have changed from straw to pine shavings.Going to try the deep litter method with shavings instead...alot easier to scoop the poop.
My hubby is in the middle of making me a big composter out of skids.Three and a quarter sides with no top....plan on using a black tarp or old piece of pond liner.I am going to put the waste from the coop in this one and garden and lawn waste and straw from the rabbit coop.
When using pine shavings to compost with will the compost be more acidic ? Will I have to use it with only plants that like acidic soil? or could I mix it with the other compost that I only use kitchen waste in?Thanks

 

[1acrefarm]

I never bother composting anymore since the chickens and goats eat my veggie scraps. I just pick out a spot where I know i will garden later. I then spread the litter out and till it in. When I till for the garden later the tilling is much easier.