Composting wool

[JohnGalway]

Hi folks,

I have a large enough amount of wool, a number of years worth. It's old or wet and even this year right off the sheep I wasn't much inclined to do anything with it in terms of dagging, bagging, and dragging to sale (or give away).

Nonetheless I find I must do something with it.

A lot of the wool is near an old livestock shed that contains a lot of quite old dung. I can get free water from the roof into IBC tanks.

I know very little about composting, but how would wool and old dung do? Seaweed is the other reasonably available ingredient I could get, I'd rather not if I don't need it.

Would the wool and dung combination work? Could it be done quickly? I would do this indoors. I have no machinery bar what I could rent.

Over to the collective wisdom for positive solutions....

 

[ShooTa]

Having been doing the reaserach on time investment i think a johnson -su style might be the best - something more set and forget.

 

[farmerm]

Mixed with manure, water and time will surely break it down ?

 

[Kidds]

Isn’t it what was always known as shoddy?

 

[Blaithin]

You can buy wool pellets at garden centres here as “nitrogen bomb” type things. Let air in the soil and release nutrients as they break down.

No reason it wouldn’t compost. Be a pain in the butt to mix if it’s full pieces though.

 

[JohnGalway]

Some of it will be easy enough to break up, not into tiny pieces though, as it was left outdoors and it's already started the rotting process. There's a significant amount stored indoors in bags that I haven't investigated yet.

I had thought about Johnson-Su, will think some more on it as it'd take a bit of €€ to get going and I've other irons in the fire at the moment.

 

[goodevans]

Isn’t it what was always known as shoddy?

Shoddy was carpet waste,or at least around Kidderminster, and sought after I think

 

[PSQ]

Don’t overthink it, just mix away the fleeces with the muck sparingly, turn after a couple of months and leave it until required. It will need moisture so do it outside, no point in making work by buggering about with IBC’s.
The wool in the pic below was spread through a heavy duty vertical beater which shred the fleeces surprisingly well, I’d imagine a barrel spreader might spit them out whole.

 

[goodevans]

Don’t overthink it, just mix away the fleeces with the muck sparingly, turn after a couple of months if you can, and leave it until required. It will need moisture so do it outside, no point in making work for yourself by buggering about with IBC’s indoors.
The wool in the pic below was spread through a heavy duty vertical beater which shredded the fleeces surprisingly well, I’d imagine a barrel spreader might spit them out whole.

No bones?

 

[Kidds]

Shoddy was carpet waste,or at least around Kidderminster, and sought after I think

Kidderminster was (May still be) a centre for carpet making so would expect it to be the main source of waste wool. The shoddy spread on our fields in the 50’s had loads of brass buttons in it, mostly military surplus.
I think shoddy referred to waste wool whatever the source.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Chuck it on the field and let nature sort it out

 

[PSQ]

No bones?

Strangely enough, the highest yielding bit of the farm is over the old dead hole.

 

[Netherfield]

Local dairy farm used to bed down young stock and dry cows with shoddy, muck stuck together in great clumps, was spread and then ploughed under.

Made a mess in reality, plough couldn't bury all of it, discs then dragged it about, be surprised if some of it didn't get back in the silage.

What is shoddy and Mungo?
Shoddy is the name given to an inferior woollen yarn made by shredding scraps of woollen rags into fibres, grinding them and then mixing them with small amounts of new wool. ... It was also known as Rag-Wool. An even finer shredding process produced what was called Mungo.

 

[Blaithin]

Wouldn’t cattle eat that?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Wouldn’t cattle eat that?

Mine will avoid it like anything! Even to the extent of running away if a blob of wool twitches in the breeze. I put a bit of wool in the compost heap and anything that still resembles wool seems to repel grazing until the grass grows through it, which can be quite useful in a way.

 

[davieh3350]

Sheep disappear in a good working pile of muck!

there’s a few folks making compost with wool and bracken, supposed to be great stuff.