Hot composting with chicken bedding and garden waste

[henless]

Mine is running on the dry side also. We've had a very dry summer this year. Yesterday the temp was 95, too freakin hot for October. We did get 3/10 in of rain last night, the first we've had in weeks.

 

[Kusanar]

I read through this thread from the beginning and just now got to the end. Now I can post without losing my place! Well, you guys got me wanting a compost pile... so I started one, it's really small right now, I didn't want to make it big at first because I would burn out and start ignoring it if it was too much work at the start.

It's about 2 wheelbarrows of hay the horses peed on and about 1 wheelbarrow of horse manure. I soaked it down really well the first few days as the hay was still sucking up water easily, now it's hot and starting to break down. It's starting to get an area in the center with some white mold, it's moist, not the dry white that Felix had going, but that pile steams like crazy when I turn it.

I worked for a greenhouse for a while and they had 2 sets of compost bins, each set was 4 bins each 3 foot cubic. We would collect all of the compostables all year and pile them in 2 big piles (carbon based and nitrogen based) between the compost bins, then when we filled them, we layered evenly from each pile, but we only filled 3 of the 4 bins in each set. Then, once a week, we would turn them, we would start at the end with the empty bin and move the one next to it over into the empty, but we would do a thin layer of new stuff in between each layer we moved, we would keep it up until the empty bin was on the other end, the next week we would do it all again the other way....

 

[vehve]

That sounds like a great setup too. Be sure to post the link to the jumbo tumbler article, that was a cool read.

 

[Kusanar]

That sounds like a great setup too. Be sure to post the link to the jumbo tumbler article, that was a cool read.

http://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/homemade-compost-tumbler-zm0z13ndzgou.aspx

Here you go, the monster composter.

 

[aart]

Got to the old piles yesterday, to put the 'soil' into the newly fabricated raised bed/cold frame....
....think they may be useless as is tho.
Solid, dry mass of 'roots', tho now greenery growing from said roots.... maybe growing up from nearby trees.



Not sure what to do with it at this point...
.....will it continue to grow and just cause problems?
...or add aeration and organic material?

So I just chopped all this up (actually I didn't do it, a very fit, strong and energetic friend did it for me) and mixed it with some garden soil and some fresh grass clippings.....it filled that new 'bed'....which I almost turned into a multi sectioned compost bin like Kusanar just described.
Have learned that this is root growth is not uncommon with old neglected compost piles near trees.
I could have sifted roots out but am going to see what happens, oh I stuck some worms from another friends vermiposter in there too, and put the glass tops on to maybe keep it warmer, for while anyway.
Just another science experiment, ha!

Aaaand I started a new batch with a years worth of pine shaving bedding and poop from the coop, liberally watered/stirred.
Did not put it near any trees, but right in the garden......aaand I am going to turn it....really, I will, haha.
Lined the fence cylinder with feed bags and poked some holes for air, aided by rebar thru holes and stirred a bit...rebar down thru top to stir in some air too.
So far it's not getting as hot as quickly as I'd hoped, only about 110F after 2 days.
I'll wait another couple days the shovel the whole shootin' match into another cylinder to take a look and give it some air.

 

[beginnergirl]

So I just chopped all this up (actually I didn't do it, a very fit, strong and energetic friend did it for me) and mixed it with some garden soil and some fresh grass clippings.....it filled that new 'bed'....which I almost turned into a multi sectioned compost bin like Kusanar just described. Have learned that this is root growth is not uncommon with old neglected compost piles near trees. I could have sifted roots out but am going to see what happens, oh I stuck some worms from another friends vermiposter in there too, and put the glass tops on to maybe keep it warmer, for while anyway. Just another science experiment, ha! Aaaand I started a new batch with a years worth of pine shaving bedding and poop from the coop, liberally watered/stirred. Did not put it near any trees, but right in the garden......aaand I am going to turn it....really, I will, haha. Lined the fence cylinder with feed bags and poked some holes for air, aided by rebar thru holes and stirred a bit...rebar down thru top to stir in some air too. So far it's not getting as hot as quickly as I'd hoped, only about 110F after 2 days. I'll wait another couple days the shovel the whole shootin' match into another cylinder to take a look and give it some air.

Am new to composting but my friend does open piles 5' x 5' x 4' and she doesn't turn them. In a year they break down beautifully but guess this is cold composting. My piles didn't heat up enough so I added coffee grounds which helped a lot. My local coffee shop saves them for me. I've been using them in the garden too as an organic gardener swears by them. With only 3 chickens, I don't have enough manure! So even with veggie scraps and green garden waste I apparently don't have enough nitrogen. This has some activators to help heat the pile. http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/compostactivator.html

 

[lazy gardener]

I have 27 chickens, and never have enough manure. Need a goat!!! Hubby would kill me!!

 

[vehve]

Bunny pee and poop is great too.

*Edit: This is the only context where that sentence is acceptable.

 

[Kusanar]

https://busyasabeazer.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/compost-1.jpg

This is pretty much what I was trying to describe. I just found a pic

 

[HennyPennyCO]

(drooling) Oh do I ever want a compost setup like that one. I think I'm going to ask for someone to build it for me for Christmas.

Currently I use 10' lengths of 4' tall rabbit-proof (?) fencing wire formed into circles. (It's the stuff with the closer mesh at the bottom.) I line it with cardboard to stop the contents spilling out and to keep the moisture in. Works great for the actual composting, but it's horrible for turning the compost as you have to reach down inside the circle - a killer for the aging, aching back.
I made an open-front concrete block compost bin for finishing the compost but have no room to have three of them in a row (too many large bushes along the back fence, and now the chicken run is there). I would sacrifice a bush to fit in the pictured compost setup.

At the school-based community garden that I spend my other life at (I'm garden leader) we have the three-bin setup made of chain-link fencing. It works beautifully for compost turning & rotation except that the mesh of the chain-link wire is too wide to hold the contents neatly (spills out the back into the common area of the school playground). Also lets the compost contents dry out too much in our dry Colorado climate.

Both at home and the community garden I cover the compost heaps with black plastic trash bags to keep the contents warm and moist.

Right now it's the season for collecting autumn leaves (carbon/browns), shredding them and storing for layering purposes for the compost heaps. We had our first frost last week (getting later each year probably due to global warming) (hooray!) and I have a large quantity of frost-bitten tomatoes, etc., to use for nitrogen/greens input, along with the coffee grounds, chicken coop debris & kitchen scraps. I don't/can't turn the heaps over the winter, just keep layering until spring and the thaw comes.

Cheers to all,
Penny
PS My compost heaps DO NOT smell!