What to do with animal bedding

2happymamas · #1 04/19/14, 05:47 PM

We have a small, urban set-up. It's time to clean the chicken coops and goat stalls but we are at a loss of what to do with the bedding. We use a deep litter bedding during the winter and there's a lot of mess in those stalls.

We don't really have anyplace to put the dirty pine chips/poop/hay combination. Not sure that burning is appropriate. The pile would be far too big to compost in a residential neighborhood.

Suggestions? We really need to get it all cleaned up, as goat kids are due soon and we want to make sure the barn is cleaned well. Plus, the ammonia small from their urine is getting strong in there.

bluefish · #2 04/19/14, 05:51 PM

If there is no way you could use it, maybe advertise to see if someone wants to come pick it up? I compost everything I can get my hands on and have answered adds of that sort before.

Do you have a garden area? You could spread it there and till it in. You'd probably have to let it sit a year before using, so that's a disadvantage. Maybe a garden area to be?

Maura · #3 04/19/14, 07:03 PM

Lasagne garden? Lay an inch of newspaper or cardboard in your yard, water it down well, then dump the litter on this. Wait a couple of weeks for it to settle, then cover it with topsoil. If you already have a garden bed, dump the litter on it, wait a couple of weeks or so, then either plow it in or cover it with topsoil.

Awnry Abe · #4 04/19/14, 08:28 PM

Go watch "The Great Escape" for inspiration. When you neighbors start asking why you are walking all over their yard with you hands in you pockets, just say, "Planting potatoes."

Outside of that, put it in boxes weighing no more than 70lbs and send it my way.

willow_girl · #5 04/19/14, 09:19 PM

A neat, free way to make a compost bin is to wire 4 pallets into a square. (You can line the insides with cardboard if you're worried about stuff leaking out between the slats, but it's not really necessary.) A surprising amount of bedded pack (approximately 64 cubic feet, if you're using 4x4 pallets) will fit into one of these units, and you can build them in sequence by attaching more pallets. As the compost works down, keep adding more fresh stuff on top. When you need dirt, pull off one pallet and dig it out from the bottom.

sammyd · #6 04/20/14, 02:46 AM

Industrial farms that make more manure than their land will hold will often rent land to have a place to put their stuff or contract other farmers to take it.

Is there a community garden that might like a large compost pile?
Are there other gardeners that have room for some of it?

7thswan · #7 04/20/14, 07:54 AM

I've been making a raised bed here, there and everywhere, putting the chicken and rabbit manure in. The chicken goes on the bottem because it burns and the rabbit does not so it goes on top.

fishhead · #8 04/20/14, 07:59 AM

The goat bedding and manure can go directly into the garden. Then I would find some pallets and build a neat looking compost bin and compost the chicken manure. I would offer the compost to the neighbors when it's ready to keep peace in the neighborhood. You're going to have this problem every year and if you don't sell the kids it is going to get larger.

Forcast · #9 04/20/14, 03:41 PM

What do you do about the stink? I spread chicken house contents but it stinks more out than in.

BobbyB · #10 04/20/14, 03:46 PM

You can haul it here and I'll help unload it when you get here.

Phil V. · #11 04/20/14, 06:22 PM

Lime will help with the smell.

fishhead · #12 04/20/14, 07:05 PM

It probably stinks because it's wet. Mix it with some drier material and the smell should at least be reduced.

rambler · #13 04/20/14, 08:48 PM

I'd be happy to take all you have, actually we pay for it around here in quantity, but of course location location location.....

It is a valuable resource. Looking for a community garden or CSA, or perhaps a nursery in the area. You need to find someone fairly close that works with plants and has enough space to make a compost pile, or a farmer close enough to spread it on his fields.

Paul

hotzcatz · #14 04/21/14, 05:28 AM

Sell it on Craig's List. Charge two prices, an expensive one if you have to bag it up and a really cheap price if they load their own truck.

Dixie Bee Acres · #15 04/21/14, 05:35 AM

Dig a small hole behind your barn or shed or whatever. Dump the stuff in the hole and cover it with the dirt from the hole. Next spring, dig it back up and spread it on your garden or flower need or whatever you have growing.

ronbre · #16 04/21/14, 12:01 PM

sure wish you lived nearby, I'd love to have them

Shayanna · #17 04/21/14, 12:19 PM

The compost shouldn't stink if mixed properly. You should read the extreme composting thread.

TheMartianChick · #18 04/21/14, 02:44 PM

I compost mine right in my urban yard. It doesn't smell if it is kept dry. I throw garden waste that the poultry won't eat along with anything else biodegradable. It seems to work out pretty well and I don't get complaints.

**highlands** · #19 04/21/14, 05:53 PM

I compost it and spread it in my gardens, orchards and fields. It is valuable organic fertilizer which our soil needs to support plants which feed our livestock.

ajaxlucy · #20 04/22/14, 08:55 PM

I dig chicken coop manure into a garden bed that won't be planted for a while. Right now it's going into a bed that will be planted with fall greens. In the fall, it will go into a bed that will get planted the following spring. Other times, it goes into the compost heap.

Stuff from the sheep shed goes directly into the garden.