Chicken Bedding = Compost Question

[LizzzyJo]

Hello!
I have deep litter pine shavings for chicken bedding. I am wondering about the brown-green matter ratio with just pine shavings and chicken manure. Do I need to add anything else or will it compost on its own? The shavings are mostly carbon and the poop is mostly nitrogen, so does it even out? I am speaking about the bedding in a big pile after I've removed it from the coop.

What do you all do to your deep litter to compost it? How long do you wait before using it in your garden?

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How often do you clean it out? How many chickens do you have and what volume of pine shaving are you talking about. Do you use a droppings board to remove some poop from the mix or maybe to add pure poop to the mix? How often do you add fresh shavings? In other words, it depends.

The idea of the deep litter method is that your coop become the compost pile. You keep it moist enough that the microbes that break it down can live and multiply but not wet enough to smell, go sour, and become unhealthy. I'm not sure you are doing that or if you are, how long you leave it to work.

The closer you are to the ideal green:brown ratio the faster it will compost, assuming you keep the moisture levels in the right range. How often you turn it makes a difference. But even if the green:brown ratio is off quite a bit it will still break down eventually. Too much brown is usually better than too much green, if it has too much poop in it then you can attract flies or it will hold enough moisture to stink. So if it starts to stink or attracting flies, add some browns and turn it.

I also use wood shavings as litter in the coop but I don't do the deep litter method. My coop is too dry for it to break down. Once every three or four years I clean it out in the fall and put that on my garden, then till it it. By planting time it has broken down. Many people clean it out every year in the fall and spread it in the garden. I should but am too lazy. Some people clean their coop every six months, some as often as each week. Some people compost that, some send it to the land fill. Some make their run into a compost pile and just dump it in there.

I use a droppings board to catch pure poop. In my compost pile I put garden wastes, grass clippings, kitchen wastes, and the pure poop from the droppings boards. I usually only turn it once. I should turn it more but as I said I'm lazy. Twice a year I sift that through a frame I made out of 1/2" hardware cloth. Anything that goes through is compost, everything else gets tossed into the new compost pile to keep working.

We all do this differently. It doesn't have to be that hard. Just for fun I'll give this link. It was made by Master Gardeners when I was in Arkansas.

Compost Happens

 

[LizzzyJo]

How often do you clean it out? How many chickens do you have and what volume of pine shaving are you talking about. Do you use a droppings board to remove some poop from the mix or maybe to add pure poop to the mix? How often do you add fresh shavings? In other words, it depends.

The idea of the deep litter method is that your coop become the compost pile. You keep it moist enough that the microbes that break it down can live and multiply but not wet enough to smell, go sour, and become unhealthy. I'm not sure you are doing that or if you are, how long you leave it to work.

The closer you are to the ideal green:brown ratio the faster it will compost, assuming you keep the moisture levels in the right range. How often you turn it makes a difference. But even if the green:brown ratio is off quite a bit it will still break down eventually. Too much brown is usually better than too much green, if it has too much poop in it then you can attract flies or it will hold enough moisture to stink. So if it starts to stink or attracting flies, add some browns and turn it.

I also use wood shavings as litter in the coop but I don't do the deep litter method. My coop is too dry for it to break down. Once every three or four years I clean it out in the fall and put that on my garden, then till it it. By planting time it has broken down. Many people clean it out every year in the fall and spread it in the garden. I should but am too lazy. Some people clean their coop every six months, some as often as each week. Some people compost that, some send it to the land fill. Some make their run into a compost pile and just dump it in there.

I use a droppings board to catch pure poop. In my compost pile I put garden wastes, grass clippings, kitchen wastes, and the pure poop from the droppings boards. I usually only turn it once. I should turn it more but as I said I'm lazy. Twice a year I sift that through a frame I made out of 1/2" hardware cloth. Anything that goes through is compost, everything else gets tossed into the new compost pile to keep working.

We all do this differently. It doesn't have to be that hard. Just for fun I'll give this link. It was made by Master Gardeners when I was in Arkansas.

Compost Happens

I am sort of doing everything halfway, I think. I have a coop sized for 12 chickens with 8 in it (in the background of my pic). I worded my question incorrectly, I didn't mean deep litter. I use pine shavings in the coop, but only a few inches. There is no poop catcher, just the shavings. I clean it out every 6 weeks to 2-months and put it all into a pile. My coop has a wooden floor, so it has to stay dry.

Thanks for the video! I am excited to watch it tonight!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Remember, that video is mostly for fun. I think the lead singer may be a ringer but I love those dancing ladies.

I agree about keeping the coop floor dry in your case. My coop floor is dirt. Cleaning it out that often I'd add more greens, it's probably pretty low in nitrogen. Green grass clippings are considered greens. Dried grass clippings are considered browns. Most kitchen wastes or excess or damaged veggies from your garden would be greens but they may attract animals.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Remember, that video is mostly for fun. I think the lead singer may be a ringer but I love those dancing ladies.

I agree about keeping the coop floor dry in your case. My coop floor is dirt. Cleaning it out that often I'd add more greens, it's probably pretty low in nitrogen. Green grass clippings are considered greens. Dried grass clippings are considered browns. Most kitchen wastes or excess or damaged veggies from your garden would be greens but they may attract animals.

Ok, thank you!!

 

[Acre4Me]

I am sort of doing everything halfway, I think. I have a coop sized for 12 chickens with 8 in it (in the background of my pic). I worded my question incorrectly, I didn't mean deep litter. I use pine shavings in the coop, but only a few inches. There is no poop catcher, just the shavings. I clean it out every 6 weeks to 2-months and put it all into a pile. My coop has a wooden floor, so it has to stay dry.

Thanks for the video! I am excited to watch it tonight!

We have an elevated coop, and use pine shavings. Its all dry...although in the warm and humid months, it gets a bit stinky. We replace all shavings every few weeks, give or take - depending on number of birds, warmth/smell, etc. We dump all the old shavings in the run. The chickens scratch it around, but it eventually gets matted down. We also toss in grass clippings in the run, on top of the old bedding. Our plan this year is to make two or three compost piles - all next to each other (about 3'x3' each) to help contain and break down the shavings, poop, and kitchen compost (comprised of egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags and some miscellaneous fruit and veg). We plan to continue the roof across the entire run, so there will be less moisture in the run, so the stuff won't break down as quickly in the run.