On 5/02/2015 12:42 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:

Having grown up on a poultry farm (which was free range), I can tell
you that chook poop often clumps in great sheets in the sheds of free
ranged chooks. I know because I earned good childhood pocket money
holding open old feed bags when the sheds were cleaned out once a
year by a market gardener who used to come and clean out each shed,
one by one, by hand before we spread out sawdust and lime to start
the cycle all over again.

Now days you have to wear breathing equipment to do that job :-)

:-)) Yup. I must have inhaled heaps of the fine dust from it over the
years so the slabs of it were all good by way of comparison. At least
that didn't end up in my hair or up my nostrils.

On 02/04/2015 04:31 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
hand before we spread out sawdust and lime to start the cycle all over
again.


Hi Fran,

1) when used as compost/fertilizer, did/does the sawdust
attract termites?

2) did the "line" mess with the bacterial process associated
with the compost process?

-T

T wrote:
On 02/04/2015 04:31 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
hand before we spread out sawdust and lime to start the cycle all
over again.


Hi Fran,

1) when used as compost/fertilizer, did/does the sawdust
attract termites?

No. Termites don't go seaching for little specks of wood spread through
soil or compost they want solid chunks of dead wood. In any case if they
are endemic attracting them to your garden is not the problem it is
attracting them to timber structures that you want to preserve, such as your
house.



2) did the "line" mess with the bacterial process associated
with the compost process?

-T


If you mean "lime" it would depend on how much. Ask your supplier if they
use any lime, there may be none, depending on their management approach.
Most likely no problem as chicken litter would not contain much and a little
in your compost may even be beneficial. I have used chicken litter from
commercial sheds, pelletised commercial manure and the pure manure straight
from the chook. The difference is in the proportion of manure in the
product and the freshness. They all work but the more concentrated and fresh
it is the more care you take to prevent over-dosing.

--
David

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A better world requires a daily struggle
against those who would mislead us.

On 6/02/2015 5:45 AM, T wrote:
On 02/04/2015 04:31 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
hand before we spread out sawdust and lime to start the cycle all over
again.


Hi Fran,

1) when used as compost/fertilizer, did/does the sawdust
attract termites?

The sawdust was spread in the sheds so it's primary function was to soak
up any liquid companent of the chook poop. It wouldn't have had
sufficient time to attract termites before it was covered with chook
poop. In addition, the area where we lived and farmed wasn't known for
having termites. They may have been aroudn somewhere but I never heard
of them ever being mentioned till I grew up left home and moved to a
drier climate.

2) did the "line" mess with the bacterial process associated
with the compost process?

"Lime", not "line". We didn't do any composting.

On 6/02/2015 9:48 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
T wrote:
On 02/04/2015 04:31 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
hand before we spread out sawdust and lime to start the cycle all
over again.


Hi Fran,

1) when used as compost/fertilizer, did/does the sawdust
attract termites?

No. Termites don't go seaching for little specks of wood spread through
soil or compost they want solid chunks of dead wood. In any case if
they are endemic attracting them to your garden is not the problem it is
attracting them to timber structures that you want to preserve, such as
your house.



2) did the "line" mess with the bacterial process associated
with the compost process?

-T


If you mean "lime" it would depend on how much. Ask your supplier if
they use any lime, there may be none, depending on their management
approach.

It probably wouldn't be used in any modern day poultry houses that are
on concrete and where these days they probably bring in a bobcat to
clear out the poop.

Our houses had no concrete floor so the lime was sprinkled on the bare
earth once it was clear of the previous years poop for the sanitising
effect given by the lime. The sawdust went on top of the lime.

On 02/05/2015 02:48 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
T wrote:
On 02/04/2015 04:31 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
hand before we spread out sawdust and lime to start the cycle all
over again.


Hi Fran,

1) when used as compost/fertilizer, did/does the sawdust
attract termites?

No. Termites don't go seaching for little specks of wood spread through
soil or compost they want solid chunks of dead wood. In any case if
they are endemic attracting them to your garden is not the problem it is
attracting them to timber structures that you want to preserve, such as
your house.



2) did the "line" mess with the bacterial process associated
with the compost process?

-T


If you mean "lime"

"Line" was a typo

it would depend on how much. Ask your supplier if
they use any lime, there may be none, depending on their management
approach. Most likely no problem as chicken litter would not contain
much and a little in your compost may even be beneficial. I have used
chicken litter from commercial sheds, pelletised commercial manure and
the pure manure straight from the chook. The difference is in the
proportion of manure in the product and the freshness. They all work but
the more concentrated and fresh it is the more care you take to prevent
over-dosing.


Hi David,

Thank you!

-T
And the poor dear though we only loved them for their eggs!

On 02/05/2015 03:18 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 6/02/2015 5:45 AM, T wrote:
On 02/04/2015 04:31 PM, Fran Farmer wrote:
hand before we spread out sawdust and lime to start the cycle all over
again.


Hi Fran,

1) when used as compost/fertilizer, did/does the sawdust
attract termites?

The sawdust was spread in the sheds so it's primary function was to soak
up any liquid companent of the chook poop. It wouldn't have had
sufficient time to attract termites before it was covered with chook
poop. In addition, the area where we lived and farmed wasn't known for
having termites. They may have been aroudn somewhere but I never heard
of them ever being mentioned till I grew up left home and moved to a
drier climate.

2) did the "line" mess with the bacterial process associated
with the compost process?

"Lime", not "line". We didn't do any composting.


Hi Fran,

Thank you!

Line was a typo

-T