The Poultry Keeper

Becka · Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 24 Location: Glasgow

Does anyone have a compost tumbler? They supposedly make compost in two weeks as you tumble (turn) them twice a day. Sounds fantastic but I am a bit unsure because I use hemcore bedding and I'm not sure it would compost that fast! I like the idea but would like to hear from someone who has either had success with them or thinks they might work in principal!Many thanks!

CP · Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:24 am Post subject:

Not got one, sorry. Only the traditional sort. Wink

Hope someone else can help.

mojo · Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:26 am Post subject:

aint got one but saw a home made one once that the fella swore by..............two stout poles in ground ..steel rod thro to make a turning handle the bin was a normal dustbin with lock on lid and the rod went tho that to..the thing was by the garden path so everyone passing gave it a turn hope this helps

fenwoman · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:48 pm Post subject:

I'm lazy. I could no more be bothered to turn a composter every day than I can be bothered to manually turn eggs in the incubator. Life is just too short. I have a couple of compost heps in service. One I made with old pallets and baler twine and the other 3 bits of corrugated iron supported by bits of timber hammered in the ground to hold them upright. The latter is popular with the rabbits and guinea pigs who, on icy days, lay on top of the pile which is red hot in the centre and nice and toasty on the top Smile

Lisa · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:52 am Post subject: Re: Compost tumbler?

I haven't used one, but I did look at them once, at the HDRA maybe or a gardening show....

From what I remember the contents was certainly were more decomposed than if you'd just left it, but it wasn't as broken down as much as you'd made cold heap and just ignored it for a year. Maybe the 14 days is a bit optimistic? Usual figures I've seen quoted are more like 3-4 weeks. And maybe that extra time would give a better quality compost and would help compost the bedding better?

Plus it depends what you're going to do with the end result. If you're using it as a mulch or top dressing where looks aren't a top priority, it probably doesn't matter if its not 100% rotted down.

I remember two designs - one you flipped round on a frame, and another which was a drum which you just rolled round on its base. While they were easy to turn when empty, I personally would have wanted to try them with stuff in to be convinced they weren't too heavy then (especially the drum on a base one).

I found a thread on www.allotments4all.co.uk which mentions compost tumblers

If you decide to go ahead and get one, please do let us know how you get on with it. I'd be very interested to know Smile

Becka · Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 24 Location: Glasgow

Thanks very much for the replies, they've been very helpful. Lisa, that link was great because most of the searches I tried came back with links to websites either selling or advertising the tumblers - not very unbiased! I've got a cold heap on the go but I'm looking for a faster source of compost for raised vegetable beds. And, if I'm being honest, a system that doesn't involve me turning the heap! Very lazy I know. If I do go ahead I'll let you know how it measures up after a month. Still at the researching stage at the mo!
Becka

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

One of my daughters thought I ought to have one ~ so I have one. Sorry to say, like fenwoman says I don't want to go and turn it every day ~ so I don't and it takes a while to break down obviously. I think the way for it to breakdown in 14 days is in the summer when it can get hotter and also you need to fill it in one go. Now how many of us will fill it up in one go??? My son in law did empty mine last year for me and it had broken down very well considering it wasn't looked after.
They aren't difficult to turn either ~ you can hold onto the frame and because the drum is on cogs it turns really easily ~ even my grandchildren 5 & 6 can turn it! The only thing you do have to watch is that it has settled once you've turned it the 10 times or whatever it says (shows how often I do it doesn't it?). Because of the weight in it, it can flip the handle back into your face or body, whichever is in the wrong place.

fenwoman · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:13 pm Post subject:

I have never turned a compost heap in me life Surprised

I have 2 on the go at any time but could easily make a 3 bay one oput of old pallets. You can fill one bay by doing a clear out of your poultry house and run and use newspaper etc to fill it. Anyway the one I started a couple of weeks ago from only the cleaning of the parrot aviaries which contained chicken poo and shavings mostly is red hot in the centre. Far too hot for me to put my hand into. I understand that it is this heat which makes it into compost quickly. I am using the one I made last year and when that is empty I'll start to fill it again and start using the one which is maturing now.Because of my horrible heavy clay I mainly grow veg in containers and I fill them with my home made compost.I grow all kinds of veg in containers of all kinds from old washing up bowls, to split buckets, old wellies, black rubbish bags, stacked car tyres. Anything which is free is filled with free compost and cheap seeds from ALDI or LIDL and I enjoy they results Very Happy

andym01480 · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 131 Location: King's Lynn

Had one years ago - total waste of time and space! Still took a long while to compost (because as Summayah says who fills one straight away!) and doesn't fit in as much stuff as a normal bin for the same footprint.

When your turning it, the nasty liquid can come out of the aeration holes onto your clothes and make you smell fruity too!

My normal bin £5 from the local dump works well and chicken poo makes it faster than the normal 6 months.

The fast solution for raised beds is the Victorian way. Manure under the topsoil. In other words empty the raised bed, tip in manure and cover. The decomposing manure under the soil warms the soil up - so quicker(? not sure of that) plants earlier (definitely)!

shelly · Joined: 20 Nov 2005 Posts: 29 Location: Glastonbury

Hello Becca,

I visited the Gaia centre and was really impressed with their cone bins.
I couldn't afford one so I made my own.
You dig a hole 40cms deep and lay an old laundry tub or line it with mesh to stop rats getting in. You then place a composter on top. You them rebury the first couple of inches of the composter. Stay with me here.
Inside the bin you are supposed to hang hang a bucket with some holes in it, so that it is near the top of the compster. You put your kitchen peelings, garden bits and pieces in the bucket and then replace the lid. The heat from the compost bin then breaks down the stuff and returns it to water (80% of all matter is apparently water) this then goes into the ground and the worms enter your laundry bin / mesh and take back into the garden the slush and nutrients.
I have used this system for the last 4 years in my garden, but without the bucket. The amounts you put in the bin are amazing. It really changes the quality of your soil. My friend has operated a small one in their tiny garden for a year and are shocked at how much stuff disappears.
It just takes a couple of hours to set up but then is really a lazy way to recycle and compost.
From Shelly