CatsCube Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 how often do you do it and how do you dispose of it. As it is with my basic cube run it over half fills my wheelie bin, and once I have a big run I doubt it would fit at all. We dont have a green bin here, and I dont quite know how I will dispose of it. Im thinking of using hempcore with the new run, how muc will cover a run base, and how often do you replace it and how do you dispose of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Have you a composter? That's where I put mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 I do but mine is already full. Plus Im guessing their will be a hell of a lot of it in a 2m x 4m run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Yes there will be lots.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 we use hemcore in the run. I am a bit of a clean freak so our eglus are dismantled every week and power washed (although it is not necessary to do this!). Weekly the hemcore top layer gets raked out and thown away in our recycling bin and a fresh top layer placed in the run. Every 3/4 weeks the whole run contents are removed and replaced. I love hemcore and wouldnt manage without it, the poo just seems to disappear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanchick Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I have filled 2 compost bins and almost a plastic dustbin with aubiose. I am struggling to know what to do with it all as it is not composting quickly enough in this weather. I also find it difficult to know how much to remove from the run and I end up taking soil out too. I've tried digging it into the ground but there's so much chicken poo I just think I'm turning it over a bit and what's the point. I would be very interested to know what everyone else does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little chickadee Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm also watching this thread eagerly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I've really only re-done my run once properly. The first time I just dug it all over, added lime then new hemcore. The most recent time, I had to remove some of the soil or it was in danger of reaching the roof . I put some on the compost bin and basically chucked the rest round the base of trees/shrubs etc. I'm planning a new compost bin (see Green Thinking thread) as my bin is nearly full, like yours, Urbanchick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I have hemcore in my run and change it probably every 6 - 8 weeks or so. I do rake it out each week to recover the dishes the chooks have buried and get rid of the cabbage stalks they don't touch. I filled a composter last winter and it is still full. This year I have just buried it on the allotment - a wheelbarrow full roughly and the first load has disappeared already - much quicker than in the composter actually. I reckon it will make an excellent mulch - it is after all organic matter and one of the best soil improvers. Should be fine as well as it is left to rot down for a couple of months before I plant anything tender there! Spuds will be fine or beans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktdot Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I have filled 2 compost bins since September! I am now putting it in old animal feed bags and putting it behind the garage. I am hoping it will rot down quicker when the weather warms up and I can give away what I can't dig into my own garden! If this doesn't work I will be living on a pile of chicken poo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 You could try bagging it up and freecycling it as compost improver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkleeeeee Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 i use hemcore and every 4 weeks i sweep it all out and i often refresh it after a couple of weeks with a new bag on top. it used to go in the compost but the 100% recycled compost bin i made out of pallets started to come apart leaving room for visitors in the compartment at the bottom so i had to take it apart. (i cant risk rats with two toddlers playing in the garden every day) it was working well but i did use the organic composting powder from B&Q to quicken up the process i have used it before and as long as its watered regularly it does work. It now goes in the skip until i can make a new composter (it is all composted from the skip so i dont feel too bad about not having my own compost bin). i have cleaned it out today and laid slabs and the plastic roof from the old run. it actually has a larger floor area than the old run as i am at least three slabs short but because the run is half as tall and its more hidden away, it looks smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 In the bad weather I keep topping it up....deep litter style. On a decent day I blast it all away with the power washer. It just seems to vanish into the earth. I sprinkle garden lime around and start again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I have 3 compost bins, that seem rather full I rake up the aubiose when it is more dirt than aubiose and I feel guilty (freshen front messiest half every month and whole lot every 2?) I also have grass/garden cuttings/leaves/food. I have a mouse living in one and it occasionally leaps out the top when I open the lid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 Hmm I guess Im best off removing the worst each week and toping up each time, that way their is never one big clean out needed. How often do you lime the soil, and is it okay for the chooks to go straight back in after? Also how much Hamcore Im I going to need to get a good layer in the base of a 2x4m run to start with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I used hemcore in my run, (up until yesterday...). Whilst it is good, i found with the constant rain and heavy clay soil it was getting really wet and muddy, so I'm experimenting with sand. I've no idea how it'll work out though. Up until now, when the weather was bad I was completely replacing the hemcore in the uncovered part of the run every week - it was so disgustingly muddy and wet I had to - but it has become a total mudbath in the last week or so, hence the change. Part of the run is covered, and that needed much less replacement Hemcore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol U Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I ended up covering my run completely with a clear plastic shower curtain. It keeps everything dry and in good weather, the sides can be pinned up or it can be removed completely. I find a mixture of bark and hemcore works quite well and once it's 'used', it makes quite a good mulch for the garden if the composters are full. Also, my neighbours are delighted to take any surplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YorkshirePud Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Have you tried getting rid of the chicken manure on your local Freecycle website. If you bag it up someone may take it off your hands for their garden or allotment. That's what I'm planning to do when my first chuck arrive in Feb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 YorkshirePud wrote: Have you tried getting rid of the chicken manure on your local Freecycle website. If you bag it up someone may take it off your hands for their garden or allotment. That's what I'm planning to do when my first chuck arrive in Feb. This is a good idea but I read somewhere that putting un-composted chicken poo straight on the garden is bad for the soil because it is too acidic, is this true? Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 YorkshirePud wrote: Have you tried getting rid of the chicken manure on your local Freecycle website. If you bag it up someone may take it off your hands for their garden or allotment. That's what I'm planning to do when my first chuck arrive in Feb. This is a good idea but I read somewhere that putting un-composted chicken poo straight on the garden is bad for the soil because it is too acidic, is this true? Tessa I think it is too acidic for tender plants, and dangerous for veg because of contamination from the bacteria. If it has gone through the composting process this kills the germs off and is then safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I've got 3 plastic recycling bins too. Since the winter I have put Auboise (similar to Hemcore) in the run which is entirly covered with a shower curtain. I suppose the frequency you change the Auboise will depend on your set up. Mine free range most days and so I probably have less mess to rake up every week than others who have their chooks in the run permanently. I rake the worst from the top weekly and change entire lot monthly (ish). Most goes in compost bin, or dug into a spare patch of bare soil. A neighbour of mine is always putting stuff outside his house with a sign "free to take away" and he's always got rid of baths, kindling wood etc. But then he does live on a main road. If you don't mind advertising to the world that you've got chooks and the neighbours don't object, perhaps you could just bag it up as a free giveaway just labelled as "fresh, unrotted poultry manure". I'm sure there must be locals with allotments who might snap it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Mine free range most days and so I probably have less mess to rake up every week than others who have their chooks in the run permanently. I rake the worst from the top weekly and change entire lot monthly (ish). Im exactly the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 Good news, the council are giving me a chicken poo bin!!! I just called them asking about the possibility of having a green garden waste bin. And as of april they will be offering as an option to have a green bin for £35 a year which will be collected fortnightly. So thats great now I will have a bin specifically for putting all my run base rubbish in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
