Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[clucker1]

We have today emptied our run which was full of wood chips,which have mulched down over time so the result is a compost which is gorgeous . Would this be too rich for planting up pots and hanging baskets? I was wondering about adding some grit to it.

[sjp]

on it's own yes but mixed in with some old potting compost and/or garden soil it should be ok or just put a layer on top of the compost as a mulch

my gets layered around/over my spuds then dug in as I lift them it's starting to brake up my clay soil a treat

[clucker1]

Thanks we have loads!!! Of it, about a couple of tonnes. Have now replaced worn down wood chip with one tonne of new wood chips into run, lucky chickens, other tonne to go in next weekend, sooner if I get that far this week. Apart from pots etc, the bulk of it is going on the roses and vegetable areas.

[Olly]

I agree, it's brilliant mixed with other compost or used as a mulch on borders, I avoid using it on anything too young and delicate though as it's too 'hot'. I usually put mine in a spare composter to rot down for another 6-12 months.

[Old Speckled Hen]

My hens' walk-in run is recopied every month. The wood chips are emptied into the big garden compost pile. I leave this for a year, then bagged for a year and the compost is lovely, mulch, plant,sieve for seeds. Wonderful

[clucker1]

It's a big operation for us to remove and replace the woodchips. The chickens do so LOVE messing around in the woodchips though so I think it is worth it. It took all day yesterday for OH and me to remove old woodchips and replace with new woodchip. Our walk in run did have a leaking roof which made the old woodchips rot down but the roof was replaced last weekend so all good now. We have the majority of the mulch stashed in a bulk bag, the remainder in sacks waiting for use, I think it might be ok for it to be used for plants to be planted in. I was thinking about planting some seeds just to test it out, I have nothing to lose, it will save me buying seed compost if it works and if it is too strong at least I will know.

As an alternative to woodchips , I was considering using aubiose, but thought that would fly around too much and need changing more frequently , not sure what other people use or how long it takes them to change their run bedding.

[Valkyrie]

Have noticed that the aubiose doesn't break down quite as quickly but it does indeed make lovely compost - just emptied ours on the veggie beds yesterday. We don't have enough for all of them but I think 2 and a bit is good going!!!

[sjp]

Have noticed that the aubiose doesn't break down quite as quickly but it does indeed make lovely compost - just emptied ours on the veggie beds yesterday. We don't have enough for all of them but I think 2 and a bit is good going!!!

it's like straw and bliss in that they are all dry dead cellulose which is hard to rot down if it stays dry which is why I use open muck pens plus when I can I like to add wood chip that has a lot of green leaf matter in it that stuff will rot down a lot quicker than almost anything as it gets nice and hot.

[Valkyrie]

Yup - when I rake out the old aubiose it goes into a big sack and when hubby mows the lawn or puts other garden/kitchen waste in, then he adds a couple of shovelfuls of aubiose and mixes it all in. Same happens with leaves - they get mixed in gradually too. Certainly works better that way and at the end of the year whoohoo - lovely compost!

 

Edited to add that yesterday one naughty girl was caught after finding a little gap in the netting and was happily turning the compost - onto the paths! Gap is closed now. After all - it is a no dig system nowadays!

[The Dogmother]

The general rule is that you can use it neat on veg, but not on garden flowers/plants.

 

I use Aubiose in my run and find that it composts brilliantly

[sjp]

The general rule is that you can use it neat on veg, but not on garden flowers/plants.

 

I use Aubiose in my run and find that it composts brilliantly

 

all the books say to compost for at least a year for all farm yard manure personally any that could or has any barley/grain straw or hay in it I wouldn't use for at least 2 years and that's from an open muck pen mainly because I'd not know were the straw and hay has come from or what has been used to feed and weed it because there's one particular feed and weed that gets used that stays in the muck even after it has gone through cows guts and stayed in one mates muck bin for at least 5 years it took that long to wash through a 4 or 5 foot deep muck pile

[clucker1]

Update: well I've planted all my seeds in my compost including tomatoes, courgettes, sunflowers, sweet peas etc. I've done batches in both general purpose and seed compost. All the seeds have come up, so I'm pleased

[Valkyrie]

You can use alpaca poo on the garden without needing to compost it. I was told today by the lady on our course makes a tea from alpaca poo and she's had some fantastic vegetables. You can use their pellets on the roses intact, but she said pure dung tends to make a crust, hence her preference for "tea". Apparently Waitrose are providing alpaca manure - but I haven't seen it in our local branch!

[BridieLou]

The Dogmother - is your run completely water tight?

 

We've got a Go Up with 2m covered run extension but, due to the sloping sides, rain still gets in. This has put me off auboise bedding, because I assumed it'd get too wet. With woodchip, I don't feel so concerned. Could I switch, do you think?

[Cat tails]

I discovered that the clear cover for the Cube fits quite well on the Go Up run. Missing about 10 cm on the bottom on each side and a few cm in the front. But you'll still have the open sides under the coop and a gap between the cover and the coop, near the door.

[The Dogmother]

The Dogmother - is your run completely water tight?

 

We've got a Go Up with 2m covered run extension but, due to the sloping sides, rain still gets in. This has put me off auboise bedding, because I assumed it'd get too wet. With woodchip, I don't feel so concerned. Could I switch, do you think?

 

Yes; I have glass clear market stall tarps over the runs and they are lovely and dry. I know I've said this before, but chickens don't do well in the wet; they succumb easily to fungal and bacterial foot issues, and need somewhere dry to get out of the weather when they are eating. If necessary, mine can be in the run 24/7 in the winter.