Self Sustaining Living Reusing Chicken Coop Trash Self Sustaining Living on our farm means I try to reduce the amount of waste that the farm sends to the landfill. It s not always easy and I try to think creatively in order to reduce the waste. Every week our chicken coop residents eat through two fifty pound bags of feed. Every week that is two poly bags that end up in the refuse pile waiting for trash pickup. The longer we farm, the more conscious I am of how much waste we produce. I doubt I will ever get it down to zero, but if I can continually reduce the amount of stuff that comes from our homestead and goes to a landfill, I will be satisfied that I tried my best. Some things we naturally have always used at least twice before it heads to it s final destiny. Although newspapers
are recyclable, I normally use them again to line the rabbit hutch floor, or the chick brooder in the spring. Cardboard boxes usually are recycled through the chicken coop as a nest box or hiding spot for smaller chickens. And then there is the issue of all those poly bags that are now the way chicken feed is sold. Two bags a week, fifty two weeks per year, 104 feed bags total and that is just from the chicken feed! Extra tidbit > there are over 19 billion chickens in the world! For more fun facts on chickens check this post. That s a lot of chickens and waste from chickens! I see the pile of feed bags accumulate every week on our farm and it bothers me to send them to the landfill. Coming up with some additional uses was fun and creative. Basically, many of the uses you have for a purchased vinyl tarp can be replaced by using an empty poly vinyl feedbag.
Here are some ways you can reuse empty feed bags and increase your level of Self Sustaining Living Tote bags and reusable shopping bags Take these to the grocery store, library, any place that uses those tiny annoying plastic shopping bags that only hold three items. Reuse the empty feed bags as trash bags, instead of garbage bags. We always have an empty feed bag propped up in our feed room. We use it to collect the tops from the feed bags, and any other trash. Use the poly fabric feed sack as you would any wipe clean
fabric. Make place mats, coasters, patio furniture cushions. stadium seats, covers for
Around the farm or barnyard, reuse the feed sacks to line the nest boxes for ease of cleaning. I also use the bags to cover open windows for storm protection, or to cover the duck house open space at the top during the coldest part of winter. We do the same with the top parts of the rabbit house too. The large wire covered windows are great for summer ventilation but leave too much space for cold winds during winter.
Using Poly Feed Bags for other Animal Housing. In our rabbit hutch with runs we use the feed bags under a few inches of dirt and mulch or bedding. The poly vinyl bags help protect the wooden floor in the hutch. In the run, having the old chicken feed sacks under the dirt, keeps the rabbits from digging out under the fencing. I haven t thought of any ways to reuse the poly vinyl feed sack with any activities for the sheep and goats, but give me
some time to think about it! At the end of the day, the important thought is that we should be aware of what we use and throw away. Even if you are being careful about how much you consume and throw away, there is waste. Thinking about the waste products and coming up with a way to replace another item with something recycled from the poly vinyl feed bags will help keep some trash out of the landfills. Compost, the Ultimate Product from the Coop Reusable Making sure we are responsibly caring for the coop manure and used bedding is very important. Not only cleaning the coop out regularly, but turning the waste into dark healthy compost is the healthy way to control the waste. After a year, the
compost added to soil will provide nitrogen and other nutrients to the soil in your garden. What products do you reuse from the coop, to help control the amount of waste that heads to our landfills? Share you experiences with farm style, self sustaining living in the comments. This post first appeared on Backyard Poultry Mag.com
Spring Coop Deep Litter Cleaning with
Spring coop cleaning day is a big day when we have used the deep litter method of coop maintenance. This deep litter needs to be completely cleaned out as the temperatures begin to warm. It s a big job. The deep litter has been accumulating for months. It s time for a complete cleaning. Since we have 25 hens and roosters living in the 12 x 8 shed, you would think that the smell would be pretty bad after a winter of no cleaning. But, surprisingly, it is not. I use the deep litter method for chicken bedding during the winter months, and unless there is some water spilled, or moisture accumulating somewhere in the coop, there really is no bad odor. I do clean out the nest boxes more often throughout the winter. How Does Deep Litter Work in the Chicken Coop? Basically, the way it works is, you add clean pine shavings and straw, in the fall, in preparation for the winter months.
You can read more about this method here. Once the weather starts to stay warmer, it is time to throw open the doors to the coop and begin scraping out the winter s bedding. We do it by raking and scraping out all of the litter, straw, hay and any removable nest boxes etc. Now it is time to begin the cleaning. First I carefully look in the corners, under nesting areas and around the doors for any signs of chewing from outside rodents. It s important to stop any rodent infestations as soon as you see any signs. Second, sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth powder around the nesting areas. If you discover any moist or wet areas of the coop, let this area dry out before adding the new bedding. As you can see in this picture, there were some wet spots under the bedding. This was a recent spill from a bucket
while trying to refill the water bowl. On top of the Bantam chicken partitions, we use chicken wire and old feed bags. The old soiled feed bags are removed and new ones are laid down. The feed bags are covered with hay or straw. As you can see, this is one of the popular nesting sites in our coop. Next Step in Coop Cleaning Process The next step in our coop cleaning is to replace the shavings or sawdust in the coop. I like to add some fresh hay or straw to any nesting areas. We have a few nesting areas in our coop.
All of the chickens love coop cleaning day. They happily hunt through the pile of used bedding for any insects, bits of food or other treasures. We add fresh pine shavings and straw. Then the inspection crew moves in to give their stamp of approval.
Coop Cleaning at the Duck House Meanwhile, across the way, the duck house has been stripped of it s very wet bedding. The duck house does get cleaned over the winter, unlike the chicken coop. Each week, all of the wet soggy hay or stray and bedding is replaced with dry. We try to do this on a dry breezy day, so that the house has time to dry out during the day. Keeping the duck house dry during the winter requires more frequent coop cleaning.
During the summer months the bedding will be changed out more often. The chickens will not need the extra warmth of the decomposing bedding during the summer. Making Rich Compost! All of the material scraped from the buildings during coop cleaning can be added to the compost pile. After carefully tending the compost for about a year, the waste pile will be a rich compost suitable for adding to the gardens. Therefore, as you clean out the coops regularly, keep a system going so that you know which part of the pile is the older compost. Read more on turning coop waste into compost in this post. Even though this may look like it takes a long time to accomplish, we really only spent a couple of hours on the coop cleaning. I hope this will give you an idea of how to keep your chicken and duck homes odor free and comfortable for your feathered friends.
For more information on coop cleaning read this post keeping your coop smelling fresh. on Interested in making compost from the chicken waste? Here s how. 6 Step Plan for a Clean
Chicken Coop What if I told you that I use a 6 step plan to achieve a clean chicken coop. Would you want to know how I do this messy job in as little time as possible? One of the benefits to having a game plan when you go into clean the coop is that the whole dirty job will take less time. Our hens only lay in the nest boxes inside the coop. They are not very comfortable with me being in the coop while they are trying to relax and concentrate on business! I try to not interfere but it s a little hard to get in and get out quickly. When I stick to my plan, I can have a clean chicken coop in just a few minutes. The hens can get back to their task, and I can move on to the next task on my list. Occasionally the coop needs a deeper cleaning. The following 6 steps are how I tackle the deeper cleaning when necessary. Depending on the time of year, I base this need on things such as flies, odor, visually seeing
chicken droppings, wet spills, and a build up of dirty litter on the floor. A Clean Chicken Coop in 6 Steps Step 1 Remove all loose furnishings from the coop. First I scrap all loose manure from any of the furniture in the coop. For me this includes two ladders used as roost set up for the hens. I also remove the dropping board cover from under the roost bar. Place all feed bowls and waterers somewhere outside away from the dust you might stir up. Spread out the tarp or wheel barrow you will use to collect the coop bedding.
Step 2 Scrap, sweep, shovel and rake all of the bedding material from the coop. Step 3 Sweep down the ceiling and the corners, maybe even the walls, removing all the cobwebs. While you have the broom out, turn off the fan and give it a good sweep. Make sure the motor area on the back of the box fans is clean and not blocked by dust.
Step 4 Sprinkle a generous amount of Diatomaceuous Earth (DE Powder). Allow the wet areas to dry.
Step 5 Later in the day, add new bedding. Push the bedding into the corners, and under the roost bars. Step 6 Add nesting material, herbs and fresh straw. Freshening up the nests will ensure clean beautiful eggs!
Day to Day Cleaning Up Keeping the coop clean requires very little time and energy on a daily basis. I keep a large dustpan and a garden trowel in the coop. Every morning, I scrap the chicken droppings onto the dustpan. If the dropping board covering is getting messy, I grab a couple empty feed bags and change them out. The chicken droppings are deposited in the compost heap. Chicken droppings should not be used directly on your garden. Instead, let the droppings mix with your other composted materials for about a year. This will cool down the nitrogen and be less
likely to cause burns on your plants. What tips would you share about keeping a clean chicken coop?
Managing and Chicken Manure Composting Composting chicken manure is a side benefit of raising chickens. Chickens provide us with hours of companionship, fresh eggs, and manure! Lots of manure. Approximately one cubic foot of manure is produced by each chicken in approximately six months. Multiply that by the six chickens in an average back yard flock and you have a mountain of manure every year! If you lived on a farm, that may not be a problem but in a backyard and in a neighborhood, there has to be a plan to take care of the chicken manure. How can you turn your pile of chicken manure into something beneficial like the delicious eggs your hens are producing? With a little extra effort the manure can be turned into rich compost
for your garden and maybe you will have enough to share with the neighbors too. Cautions when Composting Chicken Manure Most chicken owners know that fresh chicken manure can contain Salmonella or E.Coli bacteria. In addition, the fresh manure contains too much ammonia to use as a fertilizer and the odor makes it unpleasant to be around. But, when properly composted, chicken manure is an excellent soil amendment. Compost does not have the unpleasant odor. Chicken manure compost adds organic matter back into the soil and contributes nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil.
Two Reasons to Compost the Chicken Manure 1. 1. Adding the manure directly to the garden can spread pathogenic organisms to the soil which can be picked up by low growing leafy greens and fruit. 2. 2. Fresh manure will burn the plants roots and leaves because it is too strong or hot unless it is composted. How to Compost Chicken Manure The waste you scrape out of the coop, including all of the shavings, sawdust, straw and hay can be added to the compost bin with the fresh manure. Compost components are usually labeled either brown or green. The bedding materials, along with any additional yard plant debris, leaves, small sticks, and paper would be your brown parts. The manure, and kitchen scraps would be the green parts. When composting chicken manure, a recommended level of 2 parts brown to one part green is recommended because of the high nitrogen content in the manure. Place all the materials in the compost bin or composter. (One cubic yard is recommended as the size of the bin). Continue to Turn the Compost Pile Mix and regularly stir and turn the composting material. Occasionally check the inner core temperature of the material. A temperature of 130 degrees F or up to 150 degrees is recommended in order to allow the soil bacteria to break down the pathogenic bacteria from the manure. Turning and stirring the pile allows air to enter and the good bacteria need some fresh air to continue working. After approximately one year, you should have some very rich, valuable compost suitable for your garden. All of the E.Coli and Salmonella
should have been destroyed by the heat produced during composting. It is still advisable to carefully wash any produce grown in a compost fed garden. A Few Safety Precautions Always wear gloves when handling manure. Do not add cat, dog, or pig feces into your compost. Always wash produce thoroughly before eating. Individuals with compromised health should not eat raw food from a manure fed garden.
Janet writes about many homestead and livestock related topics on her blog Timber Creek Farm. Her new book, Chickens From Scratch, is available now through the Timber Creek Farm website or from Amazon.com