The pile is still growing… and it isn’t even like I have a big coop. It is only a 6x4 coop and can hold around 4 inches of beddingThat's probably as much cardboard as I shred in an entire year! That is truly amazing!
One of the nice benefits to using shredded paper and cardboard is that you can shred it now, bag it up, and use it when you need it. It won't go "bad" on you or start to decompose or smell as long as you keep it dry.
In case you don't know, when you shred all that cardboard, it will take maybe 2X-3X more volume space. Normally, for me, that's a good thing for my coop litter. After you get your paper shredder and use it for a while, you will get a feel for how much more bulk you make when you shred paper and cardboard. I can hardly imagine how much shredded cardboard that pile would look like 2X-3X bigger then it is now!
Bonus Idea: Lots of people use shredded cardboard for worm bedding. Evidently, the worms love to eat the cardboard glue and cardboard shreds make an excellent medium to grow worms. If you are into using vermicompost or worms for fishing, that might be another option to use up some of that cardboard.
Having said that one winter I tried to have a worm bed in our second bathroom. I live in northern Minnesota, so I could not leave the worm bin out in the unheated garage. My inexperience doomed the project. I overfed the worms, the bin went rancid, and the worms either ran away or died in the mess I had created. It really, really, smelled bad and I had to dump everything outside. I don't know if there was a single live worm in that mess at the end.
Dear Wife freaked out when she saw worms crawling out of the bathroom! I don't blame her. I really messed up. Someday I would like to try again with a worm bin. I think I have learned what not to do and would be more successful a second time around.
For now, I'm content with all the black gold chicken run compost I make, outside, with the chickens doing almost all the work. All my shredded paper and cardboard coop litter gets dumped out into the chicken run for composting after I use it in the coop. There are lots of bugs and worms in that chicken run litter. Free food for the chickens when they dig down a few inches. In a way, I guess I do have a worm bed. It's just spread all out over the chicken run!
Anyways, I hope you post some pictures of your new shredder and how you are using the shredded paper and cardboard at your home. You might provide some inspiration to someone else to try it. Thanks.
Edit: I am curious to find out what kind of shredder you bought. I have a crosscut shredder, but I know there are micro cut shredders as well. Both types of shredders have their advantages. I am wondering if a micro cut shredder would reduce the volume of the shredder paper in comparison to a cross cut shredder?
.I got the Amazon basics 12 sheet shredder. I believe it is a cross cut. I actually have a 14 sheet micro shredder but I broke our last one so not allowed to use it for cardboard lol. I may be able to sneak in 1 piece to compare it with the cross cut one.
