Added blood meal & ordered worms

Well, I've had oak leaves trying to compost for over a year now. Very little luck there, as I didn't have enough "nitrogen" available for them.

However, we recently began our poultry journey and now have 13 four week old chicks and another 6 five day olds. I've re-arranged our compost pile, layering leaves, coop bedding, blood meal (lightly sprinkled & dampened), leaves, coop bedding, blood meal, etc. That pile is about 3'x3'x3'. I've also started a second pile, since I didn't want to add "new" bedding to the one I just re-built. I'm hoping that things start to heat up good since the blood meal has been added.

I've also ordered 2000 red wigglers. My son is an avid fisher so I've enlisted his agreement to take care of the worm bin, once the worms arrive, with the understanding that he isn't to harvest too many of the worms, since they are primarily for worm castings!

I'm not having much luck finding the 5 composts locally. Granted I haven't put a whole lot of effort into it recently, since our funds are a little tight at the moment, but the big box stores don't have much of a selection that doesn't already contain peat. I may just have to bite the proverbial bullet and pick up what they have and lower the amount of peat I add.

I'm also planning on visiting the local "flea market" next weekend and finding out if I can talk to the auctioneer there (they have a livestock auction there once a week) to see about getting some manure from them.

Plus I want to look into picking up some meat rabbits for breeding. I was thinking about putting the rabbit hutch over the back-side of the compost bin, so their waste products drop directly into the compost piles. Although I may just build another compost bin/area out of pallets and put them over that one. Not sure yet. (My current compost area is approximately 5' wide x 10' long x 5' tall)

So, while I don't have compost to build my beds with yet, I think I'll start a couple of beds with bagged compost and wait on the other beds until all my little compost projects are producing.

Anyone have any tips/hints or feedback on my plans/ideas? I've been reading the compost forums for ages and that's where I've gotten alot of my ideas. Thanks to all of the wonderful people here on the SFG forums who are so helpful!

Looks like you're doing the right things to make compost. Please keep us posted on your progress. Last year we built a bed from old hay bales filled with compost and Mel's Mix for squash, corn and beans. Squash did exceptionally well in this environment. The bales are rapidly decomposing, so the whole thing will be a source for home-made compost to add to this years beds. Do you have a source for straw and/or hay bales to add to your compost pile? Nonna, St. Helens, OR

Hopefully you will be able to talk to the livestock owners and maybe pick up more than one type of manure or even some that is already composted.

Kay

Check Craigslist in your area. Search for manure and for compost. I looked at the Little Rock area and saw several good possibilities, some are even free. Also check for people offering horses and other livetstock. Call & ask if they have manure available.

If you were in my area (so CA) I would offer you free compost that is mostly goat manure and alfalfa hay. I always have free manure.

walshevak wrote:Hopefully you will be able to talk to the livestock owners and maybe pick up more than one type of manure or even some that is already composted.

Kay

That's part of the reason I'm going to the auction. They auction all kinds of animals there, pigs, goats, horses, donkey's, etc. I'm fairly certain they "might" have some that's already composted, since there are big piles in the rear of the auction that look like they've been there for ages.

Your are on the right track to creating your compost, especially with the chicks. When my daughter adopted 5 chicks, she used newspaper to keep the chick's housing clean, then she dumped it in our compost pile on a daily basis. The compost was made up of kitchen scraps and avocado leaves; it always took forever to change, but once she dumped the chicks bedding it changed much faster. I learned and quickly appreciated those chicks!

Good luck!

Lindacol wrote:Check Craigslist in your area. Search for manure and for compost. I looked at the Little Rock area and saw several good possibilities, some are even free. Also check for people offering horses and other livetstock. Call & ask if they have manure available.

If you were in my area (so CA) I would offer you free compost that is mostly goat manure and alfalfa hay. I always have free manure.

I second the craigslist search. I looked there late last year and found a woman not too far from me that had all the horse manure I could possibly want.

Great idea to look up "manure" on the local craigslist-type selling venues. I had been looking up "compost" and didn't get near the hits as when I looked up "manure"... Found sources for 5 different kinds of poop right off the bat! Woot!

Y'all rock!

Found composted cow manure at the local drug store for $2 a bag so picked up several bags.

I also did a craigslist search and found someone giving away horse manure for free! Just gotta go down there this afternoon and bag it up. Not sure if it's going to have to be composted, but even if it does, heck, ya can't beat free!

Now that my compost pile is heating up (not sure of temp since I don't have a thermometer) I may have that compost to add use too in a couple weeks. *keeps fingers crossed*

Those combinations, along with the "Forest products, Humus and Composted Manure" I got (in one bag) should be enough to get my beds started.

That'd be ...

1. Forest Products, Humus & Composted Manure
   
2. Cow Manure
   
3. Horse Manure (after composting if needed)
   
4. Home-Made Compost containing - Leaves, Chicken Manure, Pine bedding & Kitchen Scraps.
   

I'm thinking because #4 is multiple things that it may be good enough to count as 2?

Anyway, we're still waiting on our worms too. Although I don't anticpate using their "manure" for my beds, just as an "addition" when I need to add during "re-planting".

Any pointers on composting that horse manure?