Chicken Compost - Upgrading and deepening design aspects

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Happy growing!

[@anna9072]

Love listening to happy chickens singing. Love your system, too.

[@am2schmarvelous]

I love that they know the rings are fun and immediately start to interact even before you've filled in. Also under hilariously irrelevant... the cc makes traffic noise applause and happy chickens into laughter. 😊

[@samsohn]

Lol the rooster chillen by the aged compost was great. He's not moving because it's HIS run 😊

[@MistressOnyaCox]

After all these years it's still jarring to see you with short hair.. very HANDSOME 🤩🤩 JUST SO DIFFERENT 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 GOOD DIFFERENT 😻😻😻

[@nextchancenow7153]

The GQ look is throwing me off. Can only assume you’re doing a Permaculture Calendar photo shoot 😊 Love the system, it’s such an inspiration and model for my future dreams of farming. Thanks ❤

[@thenextpoetician6328]

Still stuck under a few feet of snow that's packing down at least. I've started clearing the chicken enclosure to let them out on days above freezing. They've made loads of manure/compost with the soaked whole oats, wood shavings, and straw, and most of it will go in rings like yours in their enclosure. The stallion ponies are in a temporary run right next door, so I'll bucket over some of their fine manure when we switch them to their summer run. I'm going to vote we transform the winter run into an extended enclosure for the chickens. An hour of fencing and it's done. And we'll be adding to the flock too. Always a pleasure to see your system rolling along.

[@christineortmann359]

Love your system- it’s the getting the food scraps that’s proving to be a challenge. Going to work at putting more fallen apples into the compost piles next fall. Thanks for the great information you are always providing and encouraging us. In the summer our chickens eat the bottom berries on our blackberries, raspberries and current bushes. Then they get tomatoes, pears that fall off along with the apples and elderberries in the fall- we gather buckets and store them in the greenhouse and garage to put out during the winter months. We also have wild rabbits that live in our fenced area- they hop through the electric poultry fence. So we leave all our tree cuttings on the ground for the rabbits to consume in the winter when we’re pruning- otherwise they chew down all the raspberries. But the rabbits do a great job eating up the fallen apples which cuts down on bugs the following season.

[@lambsquartersfarm]

Such a great inspirational system, chickens look super happy and healthy!

[@kalenclark]

That little rooster is *very* proud to show us all "his" work in there. lol

[@growingwithfungi]

hes loving it isnt he! brought a smile to my face seeing what you describe

[@Mahia965]

I've said it before, as I'm sure many others have. The welfare of YOUR chickens is the best. Love your channel.

[@pvp6077]

I know it's been said before, but you look incredibly dashing with this new hair cut

[@chickensinafoodforest3033]

I like how you are so gentle with the chickens and care for them so well. Hi from Australia.

[@antiowarr9467]

Call me a nut lol or worm or even a chicken admirer, I can sit and watch this all day long, be even better if I could take part in this activity. For me this entertainment is not only very educational but enjoyable and soul relaxing. Thx very much E.A cheers

[@jameskniskern2261]

You got an amazing haircut!

[@jillhoward1452]

I love the addition of the compost rings! It also feels more doable to do chicken composting on a household scale when there could be rings to do the corraling of smaller amounts of material with fewer chickens. I'm also thinking about some lengths of fencing at the edges of our covered run to hold compost material and help block wind at the sides. Thanks for continuing to share what you do with us!

[@CorvidFriend]

I’m doing lots of research about keeping chickens. I watch several channels but I am most impressed with yours. Other channels talk about the diseases chickens are prone to but you never have. Your chickens looks so healthy! Do you find that with your system you are not plagued with coccidia, mites, skin pests, stomach problems, or things like pasty butt or being egg bound? This is the system I will use; I just wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. Thank you for being such an inspiration and educator. By the way, the new hair cut looks good.

[@esthermae8710]

I have to agree with you Sheryl. And yes, Sean is looking quite handsome in his new "do".

[@marimaynard1435]

We watched Edible Acres for two years before starting our chicken system. I too gathered info from far and wide but kept coming back to EA. We are about to celebrate one year of chicken life. My hubby & I have said several times how thankful we are for EA/Sean/Sasha and giving us wisdom that felt natural. We have very healthy, happy chickens and recipients of our eggs comment on the high quality. Start where you can and add on where you can. It’s really good to see the very early videos on their chicken system and how it’s grown. We personally have no health issues with our chickens. The other channel I like is Chickenlandia. Bless you.

[@CorvidFriend]

@@marimaynard1435 Thank you for letting me know about the success you have had. Sometimes, when listening to some channels, it seems daunting, like I will be rushing chickens to the vet all the time. I'm retired and don't have that kind of money anymore. But, Whew! it is possible to keep chickens and not have major health issues. I also like Chickenlandia. Dalia doesn't use the same system Sean does, but I suspect it might be because she can't. She hints now and then about injuries that prevent her from doing hard physical work. We'll build our coop this summer (if luck serves) and get some chicks next spring. It will be an adventure.

[@marimaynard1435]

@@CorvidFriend thank you for writing back. We were a little overwhelmed in the beginning too. We have 19 chickens (17 hens / 2 roosters). We did order all hens but some boys snuck in. Luckily for us we could keep them where we are. And they do add a lot of value to the flock (for us). I have to say- chickens have been MUCH easier than we expected. I pray it goes well for you when you are ready too. 🎉

[@jonbain9216]

I really think alot of people over think it and worry to much . If you keep it fairly clean you will be fine and feed them good clean there waterers often and use stall freshner and de you will be fine !

[@xavierm1018]

I just started to develop my CCS. Thanks to all the knowledge from this channel. I appreciate all the work and effort you guys put into your videos and your ecosystem. Thank you.

[@yLeprechaun]

My system is on the precipice of change. My food scrap source has proven to be not very interesting to the chickens. Lots of spicy rice and beans; can you guess my source? ;) My carbon, however, is slow to break down being it's woodchips and not sawdust. So now, after scavenging old pallets from the truck stop, breaking them down, and turning their second life into a shed, I plan to add pigs on the front end of the pipeline. Then onto the chickens. I'm hoping this works, time will tell. And at the end...BACON!

[@growingwithfungi]

sounds good! keep us updated 🥓

[@edibleacres]

That sounds really neat, I'd love to know how it all unfolds!

[@yLeprechaun]

@@edibleacres, I probably should've clarified that the shed is to house the pigs. Lol.

[@QuickQuix]

The Fellowship of the [Compost] Ring. Brill!

[@strictlyconservative8777]

You have changed your composting system. What a gorgeous rooster! Identify the breed please!

[@oliverobama3279]

I only have 3 chickens and they already make lots of compost great for top dressing.

[@peterellis4262]

Iterative processes are a good way to improve systems ;) On a related but different note, Dirtpatcheaven has several videos on her compost heated hotbed system for winter growing in Idaho that might be of interest to some of the audience here.

[@sheliadean9548]

I love your videos and thank you for sharing this information with us.

[@CookBrookCountryLife]

Thank you for the ideas! We have some left-over stretches of 2x4 mesh welded wire fence lying around, this would be a great use for it! I can hardly wait to set up a new composting system, but we still have at least 8 inches of snow in most of the yard...

[@onlyintime9914]

!!!! Great tips: use wire fence rings to allow chickens to more slowly pick through compost, and build up some worm populations

[@vonries]

I wasn't notified about your video, boo. KZbin can't live with them, can't KZbin without them. It looks like you need another door at the far end of your high tunnel. Good luck my friend.

[@neens1369]

These hardworking chickens really help you alot. You got healthy dark rich compost there

[@elizabethbriggs492]

The first crow I thought, "What a delicate rooster." only to see he's a Banty ❤

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

So nice watched it twice😊

[@growingwithfungi]

🥰

[@thelandofmint]

Yahooooo, a new video ! Love your videos 😊💃😘

[@petpawteek8776]

I can sit and watch my chickens aaaall day….now I can sit and watch yours too! This could be dangerous 😂❤

[@shawnfromportland]

great ideas 🤙

[@hugshoney3409]

I always enjoy the interaction between you and your feathered friends. ❤️ 😆

[@raczjozsef6941]

Nice to see you cracking nuts for your hens too. I unload old walnuts in the main walkway and gradually crush them at every chicken visit. They follow my footsteps now. I was a bit worried about the shell getting into the compost but now I'm relieved. Just a little observation here, I keep finding walnuts in their laying boxes. they put them in there again and again. Any idea why? A cheap (waste) and easy alternative to wire rings, I started filling easy-to-handle sized cardboard boxes with compost. They can't interact with it that much but once they can peck into the moistened cardboard it's heaving with red wrigglers.

[@edibleacres]

Pretty wonderful ideas here, thank you for sharing!

[@tarlnobert8033]

Thank you so much for all your advice!

[@risamateo8003]

Thank you for sharing

[@healthyfitmom]

That little bantam rooster is soo cute!!! I have two bantam chickens and they are great little super friendly personalities. So I can only imagine the rooster just being a real character ❤️😍😇

[@edibleacres]

He really is and is a lot of fun to watch

[@twigandroot]

I'm learning so much from this channel. thank you for sharing the information and experience. I'll be trying out a couple of comedically small air prune boxes made from found material this year. the wire mesh were off cuts from something else so the size of the box was decided for me.

[@sonjaambrosius731]

I love that all the comments I see are content related but I cannot hold it in: the haircut! What a bold move ;) 😅

[@edibleacres]

Ha, well, when a hair band breaks sometimes you gotta get the buzzer out if it's closer than more hair bands!

[@slaplapdog]

I love the rings! It should help a lot in my compost yard, which is long and narrow.

[@javicarranza7279]

Always great content 👌

[@growingwithfungi]

Thank you so much as always. 😊💚🙏🌱

[@diogosilva2475]

Very intelligent system !!!!

[@cathyjohnson6733]

Love the rings and the new hair cut.

[@denislosieroutdoors]

Like the wire ring idea I can work this in to my small run area... thanks for sharing

[@brianadixon8995]

Been getting set up for having chickens, been planning on the deep bed method. Your method is like that but on steroids. Love it. ❤

[@PlantGuild]

Always love seeing your Chicken Composting System videos. My wife and I aren’t allowed to have chickens because of the demonic cult that oversees our home (Home Owner’s Association), but my mother does have chickens. She has been open to doing compost, but with her being older she hasn’t started it because of the process of turning it over. Your Chicken Compost System I think will be the project that will get her to do it. Because she loves taking care of the chickens she will see the benefit of the chickens having access to the food and having a warm climate during some of the winter months. Also, she doesn’t have to use a big pitchfork and can just use a rake to pull the piles and let the chickens to the rest of the spreading. I will be showing her some of your past videos that simplify the Chicken Compost System and do my best to convince her to let me build one that she designs for her backyard chickens. Thank you!

[@klauskarolina]

This is so clever! And your chickens have a good life too 🥚

[@kristilisakleiner9384]

Totally digging the new hair style! 😊

[@mrdeleoco8702]

Thanks to you at Edible Acres I started doing this system to increase earth worms, improve soil, very important feed chickens --once things establish well. Very thrilled to see it works so well👈

[@carolforbes1559]

I so total appreciate your blog…informative, resourceful, love the workforce and how you enjoy it all❣️beautiful!

[@edibleacres]

So glad!

[@angelfromtheotherside1439]

Thank you for the great video Sean. Shnazzy haircut btw! Love it. Hope Sasha and Juan are doing welll.

[@sabajambuu]

Great inspirational

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

Your system is one of the best ones I've seen. Happy chickens & plenty of the end product😊

[@edibleacres]

Really appreciate the positive words, thank you

[@acsoul1]

Whoa nice haircut! I thought you were supposed to keep foxes OUT of the chicken coop! ❤

[@growingwithfungi]

🤣👌

[@dudeusmaximus6793]

Good video, gives me ideas for when I do get chickens. On composting, you may be familiar, have gotten into Korean Natural/JADAM Farming, and am working it together with Back To Eden gardening, which focuses alot of woodchips. Both are a whole system of fertility for the homestead, which of course animals play a part in. Huw Richards, Paul Gautchi, Chris Trump and Nigel Palmer are a few of the channels I watch that cover it.

[@myrrhidian3166]

Thank you for always sharing updates on your chicken composting system. I'm raising chickens for the first time this year, planning to start with four and move up to twelve eventually. I'm thinking these methods are scalable though, and I'm going to try some of your techniques for growing feed plants in the chicken run, and keeping some compost corralled in order to build up invertebrate populations which the chickens can eat later on. So many good ideas here!

[@user-yh7rl7vq6s]

Chickens are such easy animals to keep and so giving. I take in the rejects from commercial operations and once given a bit of free ranging space its amazing to see how they recover into healthy chickens. Your systems of composting and gardening are so interesting keep it going!

[@edibleacres]

So glad you are working to help animals in need, thank you!

[@allonesame6467]

Love the lil bantam 🐓cockerel! He's so fancy!! And the ladies are so plump and happy!! // Perhaps you are demonstrating that design is a process: new materials, interaction, practical application, observation, reflection, adjusting, decision making and then beginning again with new materials, interaction, and repeating that loop.

[@johnpowell8568]

Hi Sean It looks like you are able to basically turn one greenhouse into a compost factory/chicken restaurant-health club? From your first cattle panel high tunnel, to your wonderfully complex collection of multiple greenhouses, each with it's accumulated uses of processes learned by your now years of experience and experimentation! It really is refreshing to see your evolution of sequential stages of organic matter breakdown via mostly passive methods/chicken 'labor'! Gotta LOVE it! Do you sprinkle some grain seeds into each new stage of processing? This is the part that has me confused, since you talk about a seemingly magical supply of new sprouts every time you move one batch to the next stage? I pretty much understand the bugs/worms thing, but the sprouts have me puzzled! Thanks for your tireless efforts, and best wishes to Sasha and your baby!

[@edibleacres]

Thanks for the kind words! The seeds/sprouting happens at the early stages of the composting pipeline. At around the halfway mark I don't add any more so that the last few pilings/kicking aparts by the birds has less and less and ideally no seeds at the end.

[@karenbuckner1959]

Love your chicken garden and composting. Wondering if you have any predator problems with your chickens and how you manage or reduce them.

[@shotgunbettygaming]

I've also never really heard about them having mite problems up in their humid part of the country. I've begun to wonder if the shear variety of medicinal plants doesn't keep them free of the buggers!

[@marimaynard1435]

In prior videos, dogs are biggest concern. Flying predators aren’t an issue because they allow wild birds/ which give warning to chickens and they have lots of shrubs or them to hide. Prior years they left out food offering to raccoons and other predators to keep them from chickens. Not sure if they still do?

[@karenbuckner1959]

@@marimaynard1435 Thank you.

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

I love that my chickens do such a good job at composting! I really love them, and we get a ton of eggs. i would hate to turn compost and they love it. I always think NEVER do anything that an animal will love doing!

[@edibleacres]

We still pile it up but they have a wonderful time digging through and breaking it all apart.

[@nathan1459]

The chickens are so into it.

[@perkinshomestead]

What are great idea! I have 20 hens and 19 chicks right now. I was wondering: does do this composting method require work on ones back and body? I have a lot of back pain and I am not able to turn a compost pile, but this looks easy watching you do this. Please let me know.

[@tier5265]

Me encantan los vídeos donde aparecen tus gallinas , de hecho estoy subscrita por eso😊 ...

[@ConceptsInHealth]

OMGoodness! I admire your system so much and am eating up any tips that will work in my climate. I live in the Deep South--a sub-tropical climate with plenty of heat, humidity and a good bit of rain--although it’s so hot in the summer, if we go even a week or so without rain it can throw us into “drought-like” conditions! Crazy! Even now (mid April) it’s beginning to heat up enough that vegetable scraps cannot be left out without rotting quickly, attracting flies and everything that follows! And you can’t leave nuts out and about--rat problem will follow quickly☹️

[@shotgunbettygaming]

It's different seeing you with short hair after all these years! You wear it well. Having recently perused a list of DO NOT FEED TO CHICKENS list, I started thinking about y'alls produce source for the compost run. How do you ask restaurants you get your buckets of produce scraps from, to please not include these items? I don't recall ever seeing you sort through it yourself to make sure things like avocados etc. are not included in the dumping of buckets. It just feels weird to ask someone/a stranger to go to the trouble of sorting their food trash for me already then to add a list of extras to sort out before I pick it up and was wondering how you approached the topic of hazardous foodstuffs for birds. I just feel audacious asking for them to interrupt their work flow to sort my scraps and thought I'd ask how you approached it. Always love stopping by to see the chickens!! I hope this finds you all well and in great spirits!

[@pvp6077]

I believe he throws it all in and trusts the chickens to only eat what's good for them, because they know what they like and won't eat bad stuff unless they're starving. I could be wrong, but I think that's something he said in an earlier video about how he sources his food scraps.

[@edibleacres]

We don't ask them to sort. When it is easy to sort we do, but we've found if we can put a very wide range of quality options in front of them they select what is good and leave what isn't and that seems to be as far as we need to go... Just our experience, not making suggestions

[@shotgunbettygaming]

@@edibleacres Thank you for the reply! I've always tended to trust the animals to know what's best for them and the rest will compost even without their help but I've never seen y'all experience much tragedy except predator related around your place. Thank you for the clarity with your experiences!

[@ksw501]

Very interesting process you're using. Many good ideas offered, thanks for sharing. How are the chickens kept safe from predators? There are fishers in my area and I think they would feed on the chickens. If I can figure out a way to keep the chickens safe I'll give these ideas a try.

[@edibleacres]

We have a very very secure coop, so at night they are quite safe. By day it is exposed but it seems most predation happens at night

[@panagiotiskarelas5063]

I believe now you do not need more fertility. You just need to make your potting soil with the chickens with the inputs. Now you may want to focus on an efficient watering system, something like drip irrigation and sprinklers that sprinkle compost tea to your garden and nursery plants. I believe now that you have the base fertility ,you may want to focus on making the system clean and neat. It has evolved beyond the need for fertility now , just some inputs for the potting soil and the rest is about watering the space. Good luck , i love so much what you are doing, you are gentle souls , 100% !

[@ritawelch4949]

I would like something like this in my chicken run but it is small. Is it it doable on a small scale say 20' x 20'?

[@edibleacres]

Worth trying for sure!

[@islakirk75]

I'm in Scotland so have a relatively short cool summer and a cold damp winter - would this system work in our climate? And if so, would it work at the same speed? My hens would love to be put to work on this!

[@karenbuckner1959]

I would think so. We had chickens in northern Michigan, US. I wish I knew how to do this then. How happy the chickens would have been. And compost would be prepping for the short growing season.

[@edibleacres]

Seems very reasonable to try. Remember that there isn't anything about this that requires a 100% commitment or a shedding of other systems. It can certainly be dovetailed in or phased in or out of any existing system

[@aphillips5376]

I'd like to know hot you prevent an infestation of rats with all that food on the ground? I live in a suburban area and my chickens are secured and no food or water is left out. The town has a rat problem and I am consiten5ly battling them with justv3 hens and an extremely clean coop and run.

[@zachhaga3688]

I'm personally a huge fan of this system. Where did you learn about all this?

[@growingwithfungi]

pretty sure its their own design and tweaking over time for their context as it changes..agreed! class system! edit: oops.. sorry about that.

[@edibleacres]

Initial inspiration came from Vermont Composting Company and a bit from my friend Mark Angelini back in the day :)

[@beck2190]

👍

[@cariedeneau5150]

are pecan nuts good to give to your hens?

[@Sofiarivassculptor]

Probably the heat helps during winter

[@edashton1662]

How do you keep predators away from chickens ?

[@markmahoney14]

I think this is a really neat system. However just curious if you have a rat problem? Lots of people that compost this way and use systems similar have rat problems.

[@robbinhouse2190]

What do you do with twigs and sticks? I find they really lag behind in breaking down and I have to spend time removing them from finished compost.

[@edibleacres]

We pick them out as needed but mainly don't worry about them when we can and just let them be in the soil

[@KristinGasser]

Wow, this is a lot of work, but it makes so much sense and I have to turn the compost anyway… but first we need to get some chicken… 😅🙈

[@shellyneal7466]

In my next life… I want to be one of your chickens😊

[@edibleacres]

:)

[@bumpybuckethead]

Do you get kitchen waist from outside sources?

[@edibleacres]

Yes we do, we collect from a few spots

[@lindamclean8809]

Where do they lay?❤❤❤

[@edibleacres]

We have a coop they lay in nesting boxes

[@lindamclean8809]

@@edibleacres thank you for your reply.........this is how all farming should be. 🥰🥰🥰

[@morgant4479]

So I have adopted a variation of this system but my question is how did you get the worm population started. Did you originally buy them and the population went crazy?

[@edibleacres]

We brought in red wigglers from a friend and the population has been managed to be able to grow all the time!

[@morgant4479]

@@edibleacres Perfect thank you!

[@sirpetit]

Do You have any issues with rats? How do You address it? Our experience is that food lying around the chicken yard attracts rats immediately. We see the tunnels, sometimes cats get one or two, but the main issue is still there. Voles, all sorts of birds are ok, part of permaculture, but rats start to get very comfy around. We do not have the courage yet to start a compost system like yours thinking that it would attract even more "guests". What is Your take on this topic?

[@liveufirst5458]

My chickens don't eat food scraps! Any ideas why? And what can I do differently to encourage them to eat more....

[@edibleacres]

I'm not sure, but you could try things they really enjoy, like leafy greens that are fresh from the garden, or wild edible greens like garlic mustard... If you are dumping old stinky food scraps sitting in the kitchen for a while you'd have a sad time as a place to start

[@heatherhineline9481]

My chickens won't eat the swiss chard, kale, radish, rutabaga or beet greens, or lettuce straight from my garden 😕. But they will climb on top of each other to get to the random weed that grows in every garden bed I start. 😆 They also love the random plate scrapings of anything I eat.

[@ryanmowbray9194]

Do you have any problems with rodents? How do you deal with that?

[@goto81]

🐣🐤🐥👍

[@MyTing775]

Does anyone know if its ok for the chickens to eat a lot of worms ?

[@edibleacres]

I can't say it's good or bad but I can say our chickens have access to basically an unending flow of worms and I haven't seen any issues at all, thats over about 6+ years of worm offering...

[@gratitude354]

Apart from all the information... the haircut 👍🏻

[@sashahynds4917]

Can you give black walnuts to chickens?

[@edibleacres]

Yes

[@EriktionEBW]

this tiny rooster is killing me

[@Jehanne85]

How do you introduce new girls to your flock?

[@johnzeiger910]

OMG you cut your hair

[@earlshine453]

Your system is very vulnerable: free range chickens can contract avian flu. If that occurs your entire business model is no longer usable

[@SamStone1964]

What's the alternative?

[@earlshine453]

@@SamStone1964 Undercover and locked in. just like they do in Holland and the UK

[@Gabi-lt4mx]

You cut your hair.

[@ISYAMINAHISYAMINAH-ws7pq]

I love to waching your chanel youtube i want to learn about compos from you i hope you come visit me to Indonesia

[@edibleacres]

Good luck with your project!

[@pvp6077]

I know it's been said before, but you look incredibly dashing with this new hair cut