I need the honest to goodness truth

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 6:28 pm

Thanks Snookie. I have saved the file for reference.

I'm thinking for the sake of 'disease' control I'll buy a few bags of manure instead of the farm down the road. You never know and my luck I'll have an unwanted issue.

Al, my chickens just send it flying everywhere too. I just pressed pears for juice at dinner and dumped the pulp etc in the compost. They beat me to the pile and we're waiting for me to dump it. I bet they have it all gone already. Tarts.

Well I think plan A will be to buy some sheep or cow

and then flip the compost and layer in the straw and

.

Oh I also had 3 pails of fermented feed that had gone bad when I got sick. It smelt like a brewery gone wrong. I thought for sure it would do wonders for the compost pile. Apparently not.

I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. Very helpful. I think I'll take before and during and after pictures and log my results - good and bad.

ross · Post by **ross** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 6:45 pm

Guess depends on how big your pile is but used skids to make a frame work & lid on compost pile & cheap poultry wire to keep hens out if they are small enough to squeeze in works real well , low cost too . Sustainable / recycle . Luck

ross · Post by **ross** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 6:48 pm

Example ...

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 7:31 pm

For a compost to work you need the right Carbon to Nitrogen ratio, about 20-30
In simple terms green stuff hay veggies and manure is green = Nitrogen
Brown stuff, sticks, straw wood shavings and wood chips = Carbon
for example manure has a CN ratio of 14
Saw dust has a C/N ratio of 400
I other words, you don't ever want saw dust, wood shavings or wood chips in your compost, it will take several years to break down, sucking any available Nitrogen out of the ground to do it.
If the ratio of Nitrogen to Carbon is more or less correct, the pile will heat up and then start composting.
To make your effort even more difficult, you need moisture for the compost to work, and we had sadly little of that this year.
BTW as I found to my regret the Flax bedding is also Carbon, so just as bad as wood shavings.
Just like Tom mentioned the Black bin with kitchen scraps works very well, because it high in Nitrogen.

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 8:42 pm

Wow. Thank you! I appreciate all the knowledge.

Is there anything I can do to speed up the process?

Ross, how do you turn the compost?

Post by **WLLady** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 8:42 pm

Sooooo my chickens are all on shavings. All of those go into the pile. The horses are on grass. Their stuff in the filed gets spread out. The stuff in the stall in the summer goes straight onto the field. In the winter it ALL goes into the manure pile. At christmas we flip the pile with the tractor if we can get there easily. In the spring the pile is almost hollow from cooking and it gets flipped as soon as it is thawed. The nitrogen in the bird droppings composts the wood chips nicely. The addition of horse manure and our old rotted hay (occassionally) makes awesome dirt that goes into the garden and is amazing. Only reason my food waste doesnt go in is because of starving dogs...lol. that goes i to my composter which is a 2x2x3 foot pile of old tea bags, vegetable rinds skins etc. Every so often i will take a few shovels of chicken litter and put on top of the composter food pile and not even bother turning it. Takes a year. My optimum compost pile is all food waste, all animal waste and all bedding and all garden weeds. Then flip 3x a year with the tractor. Added to garden in fall and again in spring with heavy turning in. Oh and the pile cannot be dry. And dont tarp it. It needs air and moisture. This works for me the best.

ross · Post by **ross** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 8:58 pm

The top in picture rolls back & can turn from there . Or open one side & turn with shovel . Up to you how you make an entrance to it . Make it bigger , make it sectional ,all up to your imagination . Luck

goatgal35 · Post by **goatgal35** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 10:02 pm

We never add food scraps to the pile. Food scraps all go to pigs, chickens, cats, and or other critters. All

, straw, soiled hay and shavings go in the

pile and we do nothing to it. The chickens scratch around in it a bit. It ages into beautiful black soil/compost and folks actually pay me for it. Once it is about a year old is when we start selling it and adding it to our gardens.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:28 pm

To jumpstart a compost pile, save all your urine in an open bucket for three days and dump on. Stale urine has bacteria that produces loads of nitrogen. And, it's free :D

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Sat Sep 17, 2016 7:18 am

windwalkingwolf wrote:QR_BBPOST To jumpstart a compost pile, save all your urine in an open bucket for three days and dump on. Stale urine has bacteria that produces loads of nitrogen. And, it's free :D

I might be a bit too princess for that :/ lol