Used Bedding

[Shortie]

Only me (again), sorry if this is posted somewhere else and I missed it...

Chicken bedding.... I poo pick daily and I've just done my first weekly total overhaul. What a pain in the rear that turned out to be with the chooks round my ankles every move (I gave up lifting them out of the run - no sooner was my back turned to pick up the next they were back in!) and scratching their way through the heap of straw I just as I was about to pick it up and stuff it in the black bag scattering it all over the place again <sigh>

It made me wonder a few things though:

(1) Does everyone do a total overhaul of removing all the hay once a week, or do you leave it longer? They're on a concrete base if that makes any difference. I poo pick / replace damp straw in the coop daily, and the run is poo picked. They have outdoor space that they spend most of their time in and I noticed the run seemed really clean anyway?? Should I routinely replace all the straw in the run once a week or can I use my noodle and change it when it starts to look like it needs changing and poo picking is no longer cutting the mustard? Or is there something important I've missed regardless of how clean and dry the straw looks? The coop I would change weekly (as well as daily poo picking and replacing a I go) regardless as this is very enclosed, slept in all night and in my head regardless of how clean it may or may not stay should be overhauled weekly....

(2) What do you do with the old straw? I know I can compost some, but I'd end up with far too much straw vs green stuff surely? Can I use this as mulch at the lottie even though it's been poo'ed on? Bad idea to mulch my lottie strawberries with?

(3) I've been poo picking the lumps into a bucket, but have been told I need to let it rest for a year (whoops I was going to just use it fresh!). I don't have masses of storage space for concentrated smelly chook poo - is this stuff really worth saving (vs buying pellets which aren't that expensive) or shall I just bung it in with the straw to decompose?

Only week one and I have a nearly full bucket of chook poo, and a bin bag of straw

[taff]

poo is free, and a compsot activator. Why would you buy it when you're producing the real thing yourself?
No answers ofr the rest I'm afraid, although personally, I'd use it as a mulch on potatoes for example, with the worst poo-ey bits away from the tubers..

[Nicos]

Our daily/every 2 days poo pickings go in the compost.

We bed ours down on shavings - and chuck out the damp bits from where they poo once a week, and a thorough clean out about once a month ( spraying walls/floor etc)
Nesting boxes we also line with shavings and they get changed as soon as they get soiled .

Ours free range so I can't comment about the run- although they do tend to poo on the ground near the coop- so we brush that away when it's dry every so often.

Shavings of course are even more of a pain to rot down- but we have a spare compost for grass clippings and soiled shavings/leaves. Sometimes we just burn them and use the ash.

[mandyballantyne]

Hi, I started using hemp core or rapport bedding it breaks down much more quickly than straw or shavings. Costs about £6.50 for a large bale and lasts ages.

Mandy

[OverWyreGrower]

I do a 'big' clean once a week - more often in the winter, less in the height of summer...

All our straw and poo (cos we have ducks too) goes into compost bins, like a horse muck heap, and I just leave it. It does rot down, but it takes a while. Since we have massive grassed spaces, we have no shortage of 'greens' for the bins either!

I'd say, definitely find something to store the muck in for the long term - your garden will love you!

[jessmorris]

I have shavings in the coop, and hay and shavings in the nestboxes. I clean this all out weekly in the summer and spary for red mite. in the winterI do it less often and just use diatomaceous earth for mites. My coop is huge for the size of birds I have so I can get away with this. The run is deep wood chips which I won't replace for ages (a year or so). they are mostly free ranging in the garden so don't use the run much. I keep all the old hay and shavings and poo,and compost the lot with kitchen scraps and horse poo. I'm not very organised about this - I have 7 compost bins. When one is full I stop using it, and empty it when its rotted (about a year). If I'm feeling vituously energetic I turn the heaps too (the hens love that bit). Phew! Its not so bad once you're in a routine. Honest. JM

[Shortie]

Hmmmmm, maybe I was a bit over-keen doing a big clear out today..... Their run is covered (so no rain issues) and they are free ranging outside the run each day, where they spend most of their time and so poo the most. Next weekend I'll make a judgement call on leaving it an extra week, it really did seem silly clearing non-poo'ed in straw away!

I'll keep putting the easy to seperate poo into it's own tub for now, you're right - it's free so why not?? I'm worried about the smell though as it's in a lidded box at the moment - not sure the best way to allow it to decompose. I've been off having a Google, but without much luck other than to know anywhere between 3-12 months!

Thanks Taff for the potato mulch idea, will keep some dry stuff aside (this bag I've left open in the rain, whoops) for mulching the pots (and strawbs maybe?) making sure the poo-ey bits are away from the plants / fruit

Hopefully if I don't have to overhaul the straw as often, I won't end up with so much to deal with and it can be composted much easier

Thanks everyone

[RichmondHens]

Can you not put a good deep layer of woodchip down in the run instead? Straw straight on top of concrete seems a little "basic". The hens will need to be able to dig down into something to create a dusting area which they won't be able to achieve with straw alone.

Inside the hen house there is no need for lots of bedding. Just a good thick layer of something in the nestboxes and then a very small sprinkle of shavings or similar underneath the perches to absorb any wet from the poo. You should then find that what you muck out will not amount to more than a bucketful a week which will be a lot easier to dispose of. I don't bother changing the nestbox material very often, just top it up now and then as the hens scratch it about. Also put lots of diatomaceous earth in to deter red mite taking up residence.

[Hilary B]

If you buy stuff to make the compost rot down, it will be mainly poultry-poo, so just use the home-produced stuff the same way.
If you have straw pooey enough to be worth removing, put it in a compost bin and DAMP IT. Straw breaks down OK if you have activator (chicken poo) and adequate moisture levels. WET straw breaks down as readily as green stuff, as lone as there is also a source of nitrogen!
Woodchip, shavings (basically anything that came from wood) is much slower to break down, but with adequate moisture and nitrogen it will still compost in the end.
Like RH explains, no point in using excessive quantities anyway.