Compost... a half ar*ed effort

[DieselRob]

I've got a heap of broiler muck and I've also got a load of old bales that used to be a beet clamp, I understand that true compost requires timely turning to make but what would happen if I mixed these bales and muck together and left them, would the end result be anything worthwhile?

The muck isn't handy to the farm so going and turning would be more time consuming than I'd like to commit, would I be better off leaving the muck and straw separate?

 

[delilah]

Compost happens.
It will happen quicker if you mix the C and the N together, so yes better off mixed than separate.

 

[Jerry]

I had a huge pile of crap haylage bales a few years ago. About 150t of them.

Took 2 days to remove the plastic and string with 3 of us on the job.

I mixed that with about 50t of muck, pushed it into a long windrow and stirred it a few times over a year with the telehandler.

Made lovely stuff to spread.

 

[d williams]

I've got a heap of broiler muck and I've also got a load of old bales that used to be a beet clamp, I understand that true compost requires timely turning to make but what would happen if I mixed these bales and muck together and left them, would the end result be anything worthwhile?

The muck isn't handy to the farm so going and turning would be more time consuming than I'd like to commit, would I be better off leaving the muck and straw separate?

Yes all composting needs is air and moisture

 

[deleted user 837354]

I've got a heap of broiler muck and I've also got a load of old bales that used to be a beet clamp, I understand that true compost requires timely turning to make but what would happen if I mixed these bales and muck together and left them, would the end result be anything worthwhile?

The muck isn't handy to the farm so going and turning would be more time consuming than I'd like to commit, would I be better off leaving the muck and straw separate?

You could mix them and just leave it heaped up. One way or another it will all rot down. Won't be compost but will spread better if the straw is broken down. Will need to be left alone for a time mind.

 

[DieselRob]

You could mix them and just leave it heaped up. One way or another it will all rot down. Won't be compost but will spread better if the straw is broken down. Will need to be left alone for a time mind.

Well this is sort of my point, mixing the bales only once in to the muck isn't going to create the best consistency of product but in my mind it's going to be better than the 2 products separate, due to logistics it is only really going to get mixed the once.

Come what may, it will be spread pre OSR in mid/late August... in theory

 

[Lowland1]

We do this all the time waste Lucerne hay mix it with cow muck and turn it with a teleporter but our temperatures are quite high and we add water works really well for us.

 

[chickens and wheat]

Someone once put some busted bales on our poultry muck heap, during a drought.
It self combusted and we had to move the whole heap away from its location near a barn as it wouldnt stop smouldering.

Nearly a waste of time as the barn got torched a few years later

 

[delilah]

Come what may, it will be spread pre OSR in mid/late August... in theory

In that case it wants mixing now and turning once heated up; if it's still 'strawey' in 4 months time I imagine it will rob nitrogen as it rots in the ground if applied at any great rate. Or just mix now, heap it, forget it for a year.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Well this is sort of my point, mixing the bales only once in to the muck isn't going to create the best consistency of product but in my mind it's going to be better than the 2 products separate, due to logistics it is only really going to get mixed the once.

Come what may, it will be spread pre OSR in mid/late August... in theory

If you want to spend the time and take the strings off etc then get it mixed in and stacked up as high as you can (so it catches less rain) and it will be partly broken down and being a bit bulkier will go a bit further.

 

[DanniAgro]

Someone like Simon Cowell (the farmer not the impresario) takes care to turn his compost often so that it doesn't get too hot, like chickens and wheat found, as too much heat can spoil it. He must turn it two or three times in the first week to avoid heating, but of course he's got a dedicated turner.

 

[DieselRob]

Someone once put some busted bales on our poultry muck heap, during a drought.
It self combusted and we had to move the whole heap away from its location near a barn as it wouldnt stop smouldering.

Nearly a waste of time as the barn got torched a few years later

I had heard of broiler muck and straw being a hot combination but didn't realise it had happened quite so local! The muck is tipped on an isolated bare hill where the barley failed so firing a barn isn't going to happen but I don't want a burning inferno either way

 

[CastleM]

How did this work out on the osr last summer @DieselRob ?

 

[DieselRob]

How did this work out on the osr last summer @DieselRob ?

I didn’t bother doing it in the end, being away from the farm it was just the easier and possibly safer option