I have a lot of trees in my backyard, especially pine trees, and lately I've been rakeing a lot of pine needles and putting them in my chicken pens. The chickens seem like they love to scratch in it so I give them all I can give them. Since I have so many trees I've put about a foot of straw in each pen and they've stomped it down to just 3 inches. I'm sure this is going to be making a lot of compost but I'm wondering if it's going to be good to use since it's composed of pine needles and chicken poo, which are both pretty acidic aren't they?
You've made your chickens very happy. I think it'd be great. We used to use that mix for years (before we moved to here :waa: ) and never had any real problems. Any azaleas around will love you for it. Mix it with lime or wood ashes for most other plants that don't like acidic conditions.
thanks. I've always heard that composted dirt from around cedar trees wasn't good to use b/c it's too acidic and I didn't know if it'd be the same with pines. I'm going to be putting some oak leaves in once they start dropping so I figure that might help balance it out. does hay make good compost? I was thinking about getting a bale of hay to throw in for them once I run out of leaves. I just want to be able to walk in there this Spring and shovel up some good dirt to put in my vegetable garden. should i get some lime to mix with it? if so what kind do I need?
