4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

I just got a can-o-worms wormery for Christmas. Does anyone know, can I put the sawdust bedding I use for my chooks in it?

 

Anna x

[Redwing]

I don't know for sure but I would say no. The stuff in a wormery is supposed to either be eaten by the worns (waste food) or be 'bedding' which absorbs moisure and rots down quickly so shredded paper would be ok for worm bedding but I would not personally try sawdust.

 

I am no expert mind!!

[mostin]

I would be very careful at first. The instructions say that they eat almost anything but the worms in my can-o-worms are really fussy , they can also take a while to get up to full working capacitiy, especially in this low temp weather. Give it a few weeks until it's all balanced and then try.

[bokbokbok]

Every now and then I put in my waste Hemcore in mine - but Hemcore is easier to compost than shavings so I don't thiiiiiiiink I'd put shavings in

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Can I put shavings in a compost bin instead? We don't get a huge amount of peelings and the like. I'm worried we might not be making enough food to keep a wormery going until the grass starts growing again. Any thoughts?!

 

Anna x

[mostin]

Can I put shavings in a compost bin instead? We don't get a huge amount of peelings and the like. I'm worried we might not be making enough food to keep a wormery going until the grass starts growing again. Any thoughts?!

 

Anna x

 

I would say so. The really easy stuff gets given to my worms and all the rest gets chucked on my various compost heaps where it can take as long as it needs to break down.

[dancing cloud]

I've had my can o' worms for six years now and they have survived so far . They get the ends of greens the hens have left, veg peelings and coffee grounds and have a thick covering of newspaper for their bedding. At this time of year, they eat really slowly and the bin can get full.

 

I've never tried the chicken bedding and would go easy on it at first - worms don't have teeth, so it'll take them a while to get through it and you may need to dampen it to soften it first. My aubiose/easibed goes in the tumbling composter along with all the poo scooped off the paths and gets well watered to help it rot. When the composter's full (2-3 months), it gets chucked on the flower or veg beds as it is, and it rots down really quickly (and gives the hens something to kick onto the lawn in the meantime).

 

I did try the shredded paper from the nestbox in the worm bin (minus poo!), but they didn't seem to eat it and it ended up in a soggy ball that didn't break down. That now goes in the paper recycling.

 

Good luck with the worm bin - they are very easy to keep and I wouldn't be without mine

[Chooks Aloud]

I use aubiose in the chook run and have put some of this into my wiggly can of worms with no problems. When I clean out the hammy (he has woodshavings & aubiose (whatever I have to hand) this also goes in the wormery. I also have 8 other wormerys and literally everything goes in (except meat etc). As long as you get the mix right, everything always seems to work out. Obviously in the cold spell everything slows down.

 

Karen