Where to locate the compost bin, near the coop?

[triplepurpose]

INDOOR worm bin? Hmmmm... I have a feeling this would not work very well for us for multiple reasons. I do like where you're going with this though! I'll be honest, I considered the possibility of doing some composting on a SMALL scale inside a plastic tote using worms (outside though). However... I remember once upon a time when my son wanted to raise worms and how stinky all those dead dried out worms got. Yeah... I best not even attempt it! LOL! At least at the moment, I've got enough on my plate for now. I WILL keep that in mind though for the future!

Haha, I should have clarified by writing "a properly managed indoor worm bin." Situated ideally in a laundry room, closet, etc. or wherever there's space out of the way. Personally I would be more inclined to have one outside, but I know that plenty of people with no other option keep them in small apartments and such. I can't see how it would be any more noxious than the covered scrap bin we keep in our kitchen right next to the sink and empty when full--if anything, less so--or the "sawdust potty"-style composting toilet that gets emptied once a week, but which if you walked into our house you'd never know was there till you parted the cute little curtain my wife sewed separating the bathroom from the living room. If you put too much in a worm bin at once, or forget to feed or water it and wind up with dead worms rotting in there I can imagine it might smell, but a well-maintained worm bin generally doesn't. With these sorts of systems it's all about how it's managed. Of course maybe not for everyone, but pretty cool stuff knowing the options out there!

 

[JayJo]

I have a compost pile right next to the coop, in the run. It's where I throw any scraps that I want to feed them, lawn clippings, weeds, etc. They can also dig around in there for bugs and worms. We do have raccoons in the area and we've never had a problem. The coop is pretty bulletproof, though, with hardware cloth buried 1 foot deep and 1 foot out on all walls.

I keep a second compost tumbler across the yard from the coop. That's where I put things that I can't feed the girls: citrus peels etc. When it's mostly composted I add it to the chicken compost or to my garden.

 

[triplepurpose]

ive known people to have separate buckets of scraps, edpecially one that goes to chickens and one that goes to compost. but for us its always just ended up being easier to send it all to the chickens and let them do the sorting by eating what they will eat and pooing all over the rest. Well, not everything--large or woody things like palm fronds or tree limbs go down to a big greenwaste pile on the other dide of the property that slowly becomes compost over a matter of years (which is also where i bury offal from slaughtering). but pretty much everything else goes into the compost pen, except for really imvasive weeds pulled, which either get tossed under a hedge, or burned or trashed, depending whether they are really nasty ones, or just wrong-place-wrong-time weeds.

 

[triplepurpose]

And concerning predators....... Any predators that are in your area, will already know chickens are in your coop. The compost pile will not help predators "find" your coop full of chickens any faster.

this is a good point!

 

[DreamsInPink]

I have recently read that pine shavings take a VERY long time to break down. That's what I am planning on using in my coop.... well, I was. Now I'm not so sure.

Should I do an open air compost pile, or a compost barrel?

How long does chicken poop have to age before it can be used on the garden plants?

 

[Jensownzoo]

Well, the good news is that the chickens will eventually break down the shavings into teeny tiny pieces for you. If you mix it with grass clippings, shredded leaves, and other things that decompose more quickly shaving will still likely make a very nice compost for you. Alternatively, you can use something like rice hulls, hardwood stove pellets, etc.

 

[DreamsInPink]

Well, I'm kind of thinking about when I clean out from under the roosts... but, instead of putting down shavings under there, I'm thinking of using a tarp, to catch the droppings and then when I want to clean it, I can just scrape the tarp off... would that work? Do you know how long you have to let chicken manure age before it can be used as fertilizer? I can google that, I guess.

As for the grass clippings and leaves, do you mean inside the coop?

I'm not sure how much access I have to rice hulls. I know I can get the wood pellets at TSC, but I'm not sure how expensive it would be.

 

[Jensownzoo]

Well, I'm kind of thinking about when I clean out from under the roosts... but, instead of putting down shavings under there, I'm thinking of using a tarp, to catch the droppings and then when I want to clean it, I can just scrape the tarp off... would that work? Do you know how long you have to let chicken manure age before it can be used as fertilizer? I can google that, I guess.

As for the grass clippings and leaves, do you mean inside the coop?

I'm not sure how much access I have to rice hulls. I know I can get the wood pellets at TSC, but I'm not sure how expensive it would be.

You can put them in the coop, run, or mix them in later.

Not sure about the other questions.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you put a tarp under the roosts and have wood shavings or any other bedding in the rest of the coop, they will scratch the bedding on the tarp. You’d probably be better off with an elevated droppings board. There are a lot of different ways to do that, you could try putting a tarp up there and see how it goes. I use a broken-handled garden hoe to scrape mine.

How long it takes chicken manure to compost depends on your green-brown mixture ratios, how moist or dry it gets (you want it slightly damp, not wet or dry), how much if any you turn it, and the temperature. I’ve never used one of those tumbler composters, those might be pretty quick, but I look at months, not weeks. Wood shavings can be slow but they will compost.

A fairly normal way for some is to empty the coop in the fall after the harvest so it is broken down enough by planting time.

 

[DreamsInPink]

You can put them in the coop, run, or mix them in later.

Not sure about the other questions.

Ok, that sounds easy enough... I googled the other... it's quite varied.. depending on many factors.... as the poster below you mentions.

If you put a tarp under the roosts and have wood shavings or any other bedding in the rest of the coop, they will scratch the bedding on the tarp. You’d probably be better off with an elevated droppings board. There are a lot of different ways to do that, you could try putting a tarp up there and see how it goes. I use a broken-handled garden hoe to scrape mine.

I should have mentioned I plan on suspending the tarp under the roosts... and then letting the top end of the tarp down to the floor and then scraping it clean. I had considered a droppings board, but wasn't sure if I could do it with a variety of levels of roosts. Originally I was going to have all my roosts the same height, but have decided it'll work better having staggered roosts heights.