Makes sense. It's labor intensive, but piling it all up and turning occasionally speeds up the process. That said, if it's organic it will rot and result in a form of compost eventually. If your compost is cold, you may end up with high N from all the manure though. Getting it hot (pile, turn, and keep it moist) is a result of bacterial activity that feeds on N, burning off the excess.Yes and no... The side-by-side bins (each side measure 30" square) are piled about 3 ft high. But the big compost in the corner of the pasture is more spread out. There are areas in this 15' x 15' pile that are 12" deep and areas that are 4-6" deep. Every week when I clean out the coops and barn, this is where I've started dumping everything so some areas are deeper than others. It just depends on where I pull the cart in. Every time I dump a cart load (typically once a week), it adds 4" of material in a 2 ft square area.
I've left some areas around the edges a little "thinner" (4-6") because the chickens like to go in there and scratch for bugs. This is the area that I used the pitch fork to see how well the material was composting and what the soil looked like beneath.
I'll have to take a picture the next time I go out there....