Chicken picking at feet

[chooksRCute]

Really hoping someone can advise,.

does the use of ground sanitizer or hen house freshener effect the compost process. I've been composting my chicken poops along with both of these products (used in the coop/run) since I started keeping the chooks and never thought about it before. Now I'm thinking, if it kills bacteria etc surely it'll inhibit the good bacteria needed to compost? AND enter the food chain?

Edited September 9, 2015 by Guest

[Beantree]

No idea because we don't use it ChooksRcute, but perhaps an email to the manufacturer would be worthwhile? Worth considering what a buildup in the compost heap those chemicals will have and will that affect the plants when you do use the compost?

[chooksRCute]

Thanks Beantree, my thoughts exactly

[chooksRCute]

been busy doing some research:

So far the only company I can find that actually states ecologically & environmentally safe,& is DEFRA approved is Bolshaws. They do quite a few animal welfare products 2 of which are Coop Care and Outdoor run care. Don't know if anyone has used either of these product?

I'm going to order the outdoor run product & try it out. It looks like it should be used when you do a deep clean and change the litter/run flooring. To be sprinkled over bar wet floor, will heat up to 70'c. This sounds preferable as its going onto the bare ground and not in the actually litter (hemp for me) so could avoid most of it getting added in with the soiled litter and into the compost heap

 

I have pasted a link if anyone is interested.

 

[http://www.bolshaws.com/calfcare.html][/url]

[quickcluck]

try stalosan, we've used it for years.....

[Eggshell]

Beantree, do you mind my asking how you manage without chemicals? - I'd love to do that. Do you just have a big enough area that you don't need to worry about the chicken poo?

[chooksRCute]

try stalosan, we've used it for years.....

 

That's what I currently use. Website says environmentally safe but it isn't ecologically endorsed. My concerns are it's best sprinkled onto the litter therefore going into the compost & into crops. In theory the Balshaw product goes under the litter so less would enter the compost but I'm still looking at options for bio safety for chooks & ecologically safe for me!

[quickcluck]

have also used Biodry...... have you looked at that?

[chooksRCute]

BIODRI - again is a disinfecting powder which the makers recommend is to be sprinkled over the litter/bedding to be effective...

[Beantree]

We have runs attached to coops and they are inside enclosures Eggshell. The runs give 2m2 per large fowl and they are kept in them for 3 hours in the morning. Then they go into the enclosures which are 15m2 per bird. The runs are pretty much bare earth because they are covered so the grass dies off anyway. The enclosures are grass. The areas are poo picked every day and in Summer three times a day to keep away the flies. We collect about 2 tons of chicken poo every year which is composted for two years before use. The only chemicals we use now are Flubenvet wormer. Very rarely we treat lice and Northern Fowl Mite with appropriate chemicals. Red mite are controlled with a steamer and a perch check every morning; all the perches lift out of their mountings for easy inspection. We have 10 coops in use at the moment set up in a sub-divided main enclosure of 580m2.

[sjp]

I use both stalosan, and bio dri and compost all the bedding with no problems I also use the part composted bedding as a mulch around the spuds sometimes the bedding get used as a mulch straight from the pens

[Eggshell]

Hmm... my three have 36 m2 between them and cleared the grass in a few weeks. I wonder if a few more square metres each would make all the difference.

[chooksRCute]

I'm envious Beantree/Eggshell I'd love to be chemical free but unfortunately I only have a small urban garden.

My run is static, 8 m2 for 6 chooks. Although my chooks do free range every day it's only for a few hours. The outcome being I would worry about a bacteria/baddie build up if I didn't sanitize regularly. I'm looking around for ideas that avoid putting sanitiser onto the bedding/litter thus into the compost.

Currently I'm using hemp bedding & poo pick twice daily, complete clear out monthly. I spread Salosan over the run weekly.

 

I could live with sanitizing the bare ground every month when I do a deep clean which is why I'm interested in this Balshaws product, it actually heats up too when added to moist ground! Even with scratching up very little will get into the litter.

[The Dogmother]

I use Ground Sanitising Powder, and don't have any problem with the composting process, or the plants I use the compost on. My friends take away my excess manure and use it on their veg after composting; they always say how good it is, so I don't see any problems with it.