What to do with the poo?!

**Feral007** · 17-03-2014, 07:58 AM

No sorry. I do have poo out of the chook house tho. I've previously put some hay in there and use the hay/poo on the garden.

This year I'm going to do the deep litter - so I'm using shredded paper and sawdust, and let the poo join in and compost itself. Then onto the garden.

**kathyd** · 17-03-2014, 08:10 AM

How do you make your compost? I'm not very good at it, but I know the theory is to shred everything small, and add it in layers to get a good deep heap. Make sure you add 50-60% 'brown' stuff to the rest green stuff. This will heat up quickly, then you turn it inside out after a couple more weeks to put the cold stuff in the middle, where it heats up again. After a few turnings it should (in theory!) be fairly well rotted.. I use my compost 1/2 - 3/4 rotted now, which seems OK, provided you don't let it touch the stems of your veg.

Could you squeeze in another compost bin?

Could you donate chicken poo to a neighbour with a garden?

In the autumn if beds are empty, I'd certainly consider chucking a (not too thick) layer of bedding with poo onto some of them, because it should rot down enough by the following spring not to damage plants? You could strew some grass clippings over it too, just to get that nice green/brown mix

.

**alldigging** · 17-03-2014, 08:43 AM

Compost tumbler?

Either another composter of some sort or empty this one and spread the stuff out on a bed. Cover it up with a tarp or lots of cardboard and newspaper (soak it so it stays still)

**chris** · 17-03-2014, 08:55 AM

Turn your compost weekly, and it'll rot down MUCH faster. What is the bedding? If it's woodchip/shavings they'll take longer to rot - even with the poo. Mix as much green waste as you can with it - it usually is slightly more browns to greens for the optimum compost mix (browns make up the bulk)... however I find with my chooks on wood shavings, when it's sludgy it takes ages to rot down. Mixing far more greens in with it helps, on each turn.

Oh, and get a couple more compost bins

I've 2 that are full, but when I turn anything that's composted, I'll take out and store ready to use.

**Two_Sheds** · 17-03-2014, 09:10 AM

Originally posted by HoofyLoo View Post

in the compost bin but that's full now! ... ideas how to get the composting process to speed up a little?

Well you're already adding lots of activator/nitrogen (poop) so make sure you've got roughly the same amount of carbon /browns (straw, newspaper etc).

Water the heap so that it's always damp (decomp won't work if the contents are dry).

Turning the heap gets oxygen in there, so the thermophilic bacteria will do their job. After the hot phase, the heap will cool and continue decomp but at a slower rate.

I compost dog poop, and when one heap is full I start another, leaving the heap to continue a "slow rot" for about a year, before I rake it out onto the flower beds.

**HoofyLoo** · 17-03-2014, 12:01 PM

Hello
Thanks everyone for the replies, I wasn't getting notifications on my phone so only just seen these!
I think I need to read up on composting!! I've just been bunging it all in the composter. They've never, ever, been turned!
I've just googled green and brown! Which category does chicken poo go in? Is it green?
The bedding I use isn't wood chip but like a fine straw mix.
These are the dalek shaped composters too.

So would a way to start be to empty out the bin and layer it back up using half composted chicken poo, newspaper shreds, chicken poo, newspaper?

Thanks so much for your help!

**chris** · 17-03-2014, 01:06 PM

With that bedding mix you don't need to put as much browns in.. Greens activate the mix as they rot faster, the browns help aerate and bulk up the mix. If it's not rotting fast enough, then as TS says it may be on the dry side (I never have that problem in Wales!!) so water it (or, wee in a bucket, and top it up with water - urine is a great activator as urea is high in nitrogen), add more greens and mix it up!

**HoofyLoo** · 17-03-2014, 03:55 PM

Water it? Hmmm
I did lift the hatch at the bottom this weekend and it's smelt a bit stagnant and I haven't even started weeing in it :/

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**Glutton4...** · 18-03-2014, 09:38 PM

I'm very bad at remembering to muck my Chook-shed out. Consequently, the ratio of poo to bedding (finely chopped straw and shavings, mixed), is very heavily on the poo side. I either bung it on the bonfire, if it's hot enough (it's in their grass run, and they love scratching through it), or I leave it in buckets to 'weather' a bit.

Last year, I grew Taters in the buckets, topping up with raked leaves, grass mowings and Chook-shed poo, and the Taters were fab. This year, I will be doing the same, and any extra will go on the flower beds as a mulch.

**ancee** · 25-04-2014, 12:47 PM

Is is safe to put it straight onto your beds? Or should you et it mellow first so that it doesn't burn plants?

**Scarlet** · 25-04-2014, 12:53 PM

Compost bin. You'll generally have lots of bedding/shavings in with it too which takes a while to break down.

**alifrew** · 25-04-2014, 04:39 PM

I think it takes about three weeks before you can put it on your plants without burning them. I built some raised beds and emptied the coop (poop, shavings and hay) into the bases then filled it with bags of compost. Worked a treat!

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**Scarlet** · 25-04-2014, 05:43 PM

Fresh chicken poo can scorch plants, roots or grass and really should be composted well before use. I wouldn't use it for at least 3 months.

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