Gardening with Free-Range Chickens For Dummies
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If you are raising chickens, you need to have a manure management program. Composting is ideal. You should have at least two compost bins — one you’re working on filling, and one that’s nearly ready as humus for your garden.

A handmade pallet compost bin.

A handmade pallet compost bin.

Compost bins can be homemade with simple materials, such as stacked pallets as shown.

A handmade wire compost bin

A handmade wire compost bin

Another easy compost bin to make is to use half-inch wire hardware cloth in a 12-foot length, which can be wrapped in a circle and held together with a hook and eye at the top and bottom.

A commercial stacking compost bin.

A commercial stacking compost bin.

You can also find plans on the Internet for making various types of compost bins, or manufactured bins available for sale at nurseries and by mail order.

Check with your city to see whether they subsidize a compost bin program. A lot of progressive cities and towns encourage their citizens to compost by offering such a program.

A commercial turning compost bin.

A commercial turning compost bin.

The best compost bin is the one that is convenient, fits your budget, and works best for you. The many types of compost bins illustrated all do a wonderful job of collecting your many layers, and garnish the same end result — a beautiful humus material.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Bonnie Jo Manion has been featured in national garden magazines with her gardens, organic practices, chickens, and designs. Follow Bonnie at VintageGardenGal.com. Rob Ludlow is the owner of BackYardChickens.com, a top source on chicken raising, and the coauthor of Raising Chickens For Dummies.

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