Chicken composters

Some time ago I decided to put in little compost piles into each of the chicken runs. Considering the amount of poos that they do, out kitchen scraps and the garden weeds, we managed to fill them up pretty quickly. Once one is "full" we stop filling it and start up on a new one. We then wait for the chickens to amuse themselves by digging through it. And yes, did they like it!


Starting with just a piece of fence material held in a "C" shape with some pegs, we filled it with everything. Currently it is winter here and so it is citrus season. Some gardening books say to limit the amount of citrus peel going in, but we're pretty much emptying a bucket of peels into the compost every few days. It starts empty from this:

To this:

I have to say, the peel breaks down really well. What I have found that doesn't break down are broccoli stems, cabbage leaves and corn cobs. All the straw is from Penguin's coop and all that chicken poo really helps to get the breakdown process going.

I was expecting the chickens to dig and dig through it, turning the compost for me, but in reality, they don't do that. They dig for a bit, find bits of seed or worms that they like and then they wander off. Either that or they dig around the compost pile for the yummy worms.

I have to say that the younger hens are definitely more active in digging through the compost. Buffy's pile is generally found spread out from the pile. Which is good, as it aerates the compost, but it means that I have to push it back into a single pile.

Regardless of how much the chickens dig through the compost, to speed up the process, I turn it over every weekend. I must say, it is much easier to turn compost when it is set up like this than in one of those compost bins. I basically rake it all out of the opening and push it around and rake it back in. I find that we can get really good compost in a short time with this method.

If I recall correctly, it would be about 2 months before it turned to this. I chuck it on the garden beds like this to keep the weeds down, so far so good!

 

Effie enjoying going through this compost pile. I turn this one as well, but I have to say, it is been over 2 months and there is a cabbage leaf that I consistently keep finding intact and not the tiniest bit brown! And also a brussel sprout that I keep finding rolling around. My chickens have no interest in cabbages!

Oh, and this is my weapon of choice to turn the compost out. The tines are bigger than a normal rake, which is great for not getting stuff stuck in between the tines. It's part pitchfork, part rake I guess. So far, the only thing that has gotten stuck in between the tines are corn cobs, but they are pretty easy to dislodge.

Anyway, our chickens love it and we'll continue to keep our compost piles in the chicken runs. In fact, I think we have a start a second one up in Buffy's run tomorrow!

So wet here at the moment that our chickens keep informing me that they are NOT DUCKS

Does this look like a happy Buffy? Poor thing got caught in a particularly heavy rain spell. Brought him in and he got a salon treatment with a hair dryer. Under that wet top layer of feathers, he was actually dry. All that feather down is quite water repellent. Doesn't mean that he likes being in the rain though. He didn't particularly like the hair dryer either, but he was very happy to be warm and fluffy again!

Go cuddle your chickens! (Even if it is to dry them off!)