Boris70 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Hi, Some advice needed - am I better using the big black darlicks for composting, or just making wooden exposed holders? The compost bins will be about 20 foot form the chickens if this makes a difference? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I ordered a black composter from my local council and it works fine. Have since received another 2 as I kept filling them. At £6 each you can't go wrong really. Just make sure you put them on mesh to stop rats. Happy composting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I second Christian's advice re rats, we got rat in our compost bin emptied it out and it took up residence in another one even though we had put chicken wire underneath it, so a strong mesh would be better. We have got three 'darleks' of various sizes which we use in roatation, and they work pretty well. The contents don't get too wet and are kept warm which helps decomposition. You need to put in layers of wet and dryer materials to get a good moisture balance, we add veg peelings, wood ash and the paper and poo from the chooks and occasionally some shredded paper or cardboard if it looking a bit wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 We have a darleck. Literally. We ordered one from the council and did the blue peter thing on it. The instructions for it at the time were on the B.P web site. However it was quite hard to do as the plastic is so strong it was impossible to make holes in it for his whisk, sink plunger and his light bulb eyes!! The kids ended up not helping much when hubby had to go in with the blow torch. Here he is when finished Looks alot worse for wear now as this is about 2 years ago. He gets a lot of comments from visitors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missuscluck Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Sorry, not sure why that picture wont resize down. Im pushing the borders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 You can also drill some holes in your dalek to help witht the process - I read it somewhere but I can't remember where. I have a big wooden bin, 3 daleks, a tumbler, a hideous "wooden barrel" effect bin (freecycle!) and a water butt that leaks a bit at the top so no good for water! And of course - not much is ready! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffymuppet Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I've got 3 dalek composters and I think they're great. I've got bottoms for two of them, which helps to keep them a bit more stable. If you haven't already got one, have a look at the RecycleNow website - they have a postcode checker which tells you whether your local council is offering good deals on compost bins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I got my dalek through that scheme, along with a very good values bokashi kit - less than half the price of buying it from the Organic Gardening catalogue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
