So I know I have to finish adding to my pile eventually and I have stopped but I don't wanna throw away my chicken and rabbit poop...could it hurt to keep adding it to my tumbler?
What do I do with all that poo? Ideas?
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MillsGarden
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- Location: Southeastern Kentucky, zone 6B
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toxcrusadr
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You've discovered the essential dilemma of the tumbler owner: what to do with ingredients while the batch is finishing? You need a second compost pile. It can either be a holding bin for ingredients waiting to IN, or a finishing bin for batches coming OUT. If you have extra greens, such as manure, they can't really be stored. So I would empty the tumbler in to a pile or second bin, and start a new batch. If you had extra browns, such as fall leaves, you can keep them in bags or a wire bin waiting for greens to come along.
Most sources recommend composting all manures. Fresh manure may cause other nutrient imbalances. The suggestion to start another pile is a good one. You could either take what you have in the tumbler out to start a new pile or start another pile outside. While it is heating it does not need to be turned as often and add it to the tumbler when it is time for it to be turned.
I would prefer to start the outside pile anyway since it is very hard to get compost in tumblers to heat up.
Tumblers are easy to turn, but it is hard to get a large enough volume in them to heat up nicely. In addition the best compost moves material from the outside in and vise versa. I have found that most tumblers move but unless they have flanges to agitate the material, or it is manually moved with a compost stirrer, the compost does not move around that well in a tumbler especially in the beginning when it is full. At the garden where I volunteer, we have a tumbler. The ratio of C:N is very important and it is very easy to add too much water or wet waste to the tumbler. The tumbler did not make compost any faster than a standard pile and it has never gotten hot enough so it was just cold composting. It did not make compost any faster than any other method and the quantity was smaller than the pile method.
Manures are safer hot composted instead of cold. A 3x3 ft well made pile will heat up over 3-5 days and get hot enough to kill most pathogens. After that, is when the frequent turning helps to make the compost faster.
https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-in ... n-18-days/
If you have worms, you can also give the manure to the worms. A couple of the local worm purveyors feeds manures to their worms. One has his rabbit hutch over the worm bins and the manures drop in and the other uses a local chicken farm and raises her worms with chicken manure.
Attra has this to say about manures. See link below.
https://counties.cce.cornell.edu/washing ... uction.pdf
I would prefer to start the outside pile anyway since it is very hard to get compost in tumblers to heat up.
Tumblers are easy to turn, but it is hard to get a large enough volume in them to heat up nicely. In addition the best compost moves material from the outside in and vise versa. I have found that most tumblers move but unless they have flanges to agitate the material, or it is manually moved with a compost stirrer, the compost does not move around that well in a tumbler especially in the beginning when it is full. At the garden where I volunteer, we have a tumbler. The ratio of C:N is very important and it is very easy to add too much water or wet waste to the tumbler. The tumbler did not make compost any faster than a standard pile and it has never gotten hot enough so it was just cold composting. It did not make compost any faster than any other method and the quantity was smaller than the pile method.
Manures are safer hot composted instead of cold. A 3x3 ft well made pile will heat up over 3-5 days and get hot enough to kill most pathogens. After that, is when the frequent turning helps to make the compost faster.
https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-in ... n-18-days/
If you have worms, you can also give the manure to the worms. A couple of the local worm purveyors feeds manures to their worms. One has his rabbit hutch over the worm bins and the manures drop in and the other uses a local chicken farm and raises her worms with chicken manure.
Attra has this to say about manures. See link below.
https://counties.cce.cornell.edu/washing ... uction.pdf