[madchickenlady]

Thinking of starting a compost heap for my chicken bedding, does this need to ne covered to stop the hens from rooting through it, just thinking about the risk of worms  Also, is chicken manure sought after? Thinking of getting in touch with my local allotment society to see if they can use some as there is too much for my needs. Thanks all. 

[Bodger]

Chicken poop can be a bit strong, so it needs to be weathered, or mixed with other poop.

Chickens have scratched on muck heaps since time immemorial, so I wouldn't worry too much. The other thing is that if you can get your compost heap to heat up, then any nasties will be fried.

[madchickenlady]

Thanks Bodger

[hughesy]

Chicken droppings are excellent for getting your compost heap going. Loads of ammonia. Mix it in with everything else and you'll soon have some great compost.

[Rosiecrad]

Thanks for posting, i was about to do a similar post!! We have 90 chickens, so get a lot of muck but loved your idea of getting hold of a nearby allotment.
I think i will make some seperate areas to keep the chicken muck ( we bring them into our barn, with an outside run) in the winter and think it will be a good idea to have a compost heap nr to this barn and maybe another near to the summer housing.
Rosie

[chrismahon]

We composted our chicken bedding and poo we had picked for several years when in the UK. It takes two full years to compost before it acts as nourishment and not weedkiller. Before that it is simply too strong. We used to move it twice in that period to turn it over and get air into it. When ready there are no worms and smell and it is of a crumbly texture. Use sparingly at about 25% of normal compost levels. We grew some fantastic peppers using it. Unfortunately we had to leave about 3 tons of it behind in the UK and about a ton in the Dordogne. We still haven't got somewhere to start the process off again.

[madchickenlady]

Great minds and all that Rosiecrad! 

[Rosiecrad]

Ha, yes Heather!
Chris, thats really imformative, thanks!

Rosiex

[Stereo]

Is this using woodchip? We go through a bale of wood shavings every week at the moment and are amassing a heap of spent stuff. I'm thinking it has to be useful at some stage. Problem maybe moving it but I'm thinking I can do it during a dry spell when it will be lighter.

[hughesy]

Wood shavings take a hell of a long time to rot down. If you want compost it's better to use straw or similar.

[HesterF]

Or hemp bedding which has better absorbancy than shavings (and loads better than straw, chopped or not) and rots down quicker as well. Pricier though - although also means you don't have to change it as often.

H

[madchickenlady]

Hemp? not seen this for sale at our local place, where can you get it from?

[HesterF]

Our local SCATs does it - best to phone in advance to check they have it in but they can normally get it in (bit of a shortage last spring because the 2012 harvest was so awful but plenty around now). The brand name I get is Hemcore but there's also a French brand called Auboise (or something) that I've seen online - I think Omlet (it was hugely expensive). They also do a Flax equivalent which is cheaper but I tried it and didn't like it as much - too flyaway and less absorbant, more like chopped straw. It's normally aimed at horses so all the instructions are about filling a stable with it but it works well with all my chooks, ducks and geese.

I phoned up the company that makes Hemcore direct last year (when trying to track it down) and they are aiming to target the small poultry market more. They had only been willing to supply in full truck load quantities which meant a lot of small scale agricultural supply places wouldn't order (I get lots of feed from Farm & Pet place on line and they couldn't risk ordering a full truck load on their scale of business) but they said they were looking more at sending out smaller quantities which in turn means it should become more available to us.

They do have a search for local suppliers. Was about to post a link to their website and have just been on there and read that they went into administration in October. Oh poo. Now need to track down all the supplies I can get my hands on! Forget the above!

H

[JEP]

old guy by us uses metal barrel to burn sawdust before putting on compost heap works well