Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Composting chicken bedding

Collapse

X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Composting chicken bedding

    We've just brought our four new hens home (yay! Eggsmeralda, Dobby, Henrietta and Mama Oeuf the Second), and I have lined their nest boxes with straw and the floor of the coop with shavings. Can I put all of this (droppings and all) into the compost bin?

    Thanks
    Becky

  • #2
    Yes!!!!!!!!!
    Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

    Comment


    • #3
      haha yes, it's amazing stuff
      https://nodigadventures.blogspot.com/

      Comment


      • #4
        Welcome to the new chooks
        I compost in their run! Add all the used bedding to their covered run (about 15' x 10') and all sorts of greens, weeds and shredded paper - and let them turn it for me. Once it looks OK, I clean it out and use it on the garden - and start again.

        Please add your new girls to our thread at https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ave_25436.html
        Last edited by veggiechicken; 04-03-2019, 11:47 PM. Reason: wrong conversion

        Comment


        • #5
          I add mine to our dalek, but I have to admit I find it a bit slow to compost down.

          Any suggestions? I can't adopt VC's approach as the chickens free range a lot of the day and the dogs would make short work of any chicken poo (dogs do have some ghastly habits...). Can it be used direct as a mulch or is it a bit strong for that?

          Comment


          • #6
            My chooks are out of the run when I'm out too - and you're right about the dogs ghastly habits.
            Snoop, can you spread it on a bed to overwinter in situ - then plant in it in spring?

            Comment


            • #7
              ^Yes, thanks, that's a possibility for next year at least.

              Comment


              • #8
                I've been using the bedding as a mulch. It's excellent stuff.
                An attempt to live a little more self-sufficient

                Comment


                • #9
                  ^Straight away, hamesy, or after composting?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Of course you can and your garden will thank you for it.
                    Well done on getting cluckies.
                    Feed the soil, not the plants.
                    (helps if you have cluckies)

                    Man v Squirrels, pigeons & Ants
                    Bob

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
                      Welcome to the new chooks
                      I compost in their run! Add all the used bedding to their covered run (about 15' x 10') and all sorts of greens, weeds and shredded paper - and let them turn it for me. Once it looks OK, I clean it out and use it on the garden - and start again.

                      Please add your new girls to our thread at https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ave_25436.html
                      Do you just throw it randomly in or do you create a specific compost heap within the run, ie a pallet composter with which the birds can climb inside, scratch and turn?
                      sigpic

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        You should know me by now, MWB, its chucked in randomly!!

                        Their bedding is woodchips, bought by the bale, its put in their coop and the nest box and, roughly every week, is cleaned out into the run. The chooks turn it over constantly.
                        I add all the lawn mowings, autumn leaves and shredded paper and any odd veg leaves.
                        The run is covered and most of it stays dry. If its too dry, I empty their water drinker on to it. They seem to prefer drinking from puddles than form the drinker!!

                        They also have their "old run" which is all sorts of prunings and garden waste. When its dry, they're in there in the day or roaming around the garden with me and the dogs!!
                        Must go now - its time to put them to bed and read them a story.
                        ?Twas the night before Christmas
                        And the chooks were so sleepy,
                        Someone was coming.
                        Looking quite creepy.
                        He had a white beard
                        And some more on his tail.
                        ............

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          [QUOTE=veggiechicken;1684563]You should know me by now, MWB, its chucked in randomly!!

                          Ha, I should have known better
                          sigpic

                          Comment

                          Latest Topics

                          Collapse

                          Recent Blog Posts

                          Collapse
                          Working...
                          X