Emily Smith

Timothy Norton wrote:

Emily Smith wrote: Basically, I want to compost anything that isn't recyclable but is biodegradable. So used paper towels, paper cups, food scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, etc. I do have a regular supply of pine shavings and used chicken bedding to add as needed.

This is how I treat my recycling. I was inspired after reading David the Good's book Compost Everything. I think he provides a good overall view of using a compost system to break down organic wastes from a household (outside of humanure systems) that would eventually end up in more traditional waste streams. It is some decent reading if you are looking for some literature.

"Where we go to steal compost occasionally." XD
I think I actually read that book soon after it came out. I'd almost forgotten about him! I guess I'll just make sure to keep a layer of shavings on top to make it look a little nicer. And bury any proteins. That's not any worse than burying our chickens when they die, right??

Nancy Reading wrote:I wouldn't worry about shade - that might help if you get hot summers as the compost needs to stay moist.

What sort of materials are you hoping to compost? The only reason I ask, is that both areas you highlight are a long way away from the house. If you are intending the pile to mainly deal with garden waste on an infrequent basis, then that is not too much a problem, but if you want to empty a kitchen caddy in there each day, or frequently, then it may be worth placing the heap where you walk everyday anyway - to the chicken coop for example. That means the one near the vegetable area would perhaps be more suitable for you.

Think about where the waste is coming from, and where you want to use the compost in future, and you might be surprised how much transportation you can save yourself!

I'm in west central Georgia, so it gets really hot and humid in the summer.
Basically, I want to compost anything that isn't recyclable but is biodegradable. So used paper towels, paper cups, food scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, etc. I do have a regular supply of pine shavings and used chicken bedding to add as needed.

Hopefully the attachment works. My son drew the sketch and I labeled it in Canva. The highlighted areas are where I'm thinking of putting the compost pile. The area behind the chicken coop is dog proof, and the one in the northeast corner is really shady. I'm not sure how much that matters.

Over 18 years ago, I landed in a small 1990's build cookie cutter neighborhood of starter homes, and I can't move right now. My backyard is 1/2 acre, so we have some space to work with. But I would still like to be as little of a nuisance to my neighbors as possible. The side that sees most of my activity doesn't necessarily care, but the wife is particular about her produce, so they can't always be "bought," so to speak.

Anyway, all that context to say I do have to be mindful of how I operate as opposed to if I only had to worry about impacts to nature. I also can't and don't want to just buy those tumbling things from Amazon.

I'll try to add a drawing in the comments at some point, but the backyard is a little over 100 feet wide, runs north to south, and is 300' long on the west side, shorter on the east. There's a gentle slope north to south, as well. I have no idea about degree. Enough that water runs into my neighbor's yard. Zone 8a, if that matters for composting.

We back up to woods and also have dogs. Unfortunately, all the currently dog-proof areas are closer to those neighbors.

In short, I'd probably just start a heap somewhere if I didn't have to worry about neighbors, but I do. Any advice is appreciated! I'll start working on a drawing (I know, I should have had one drawn like 16 years ago!).

ETA: My primary goal is waste reduction, not necessarily the fastest path to useable compost. Our soil is pretty good, and I use "chicken dirt" in the spring to top dress my rows. Basically we rake back the mulch and scoop out all the pretty black dirt, then add more mulch.

Jay Angler wrote:It sounds like you've got several issues. I don't know your position, but in mine, I would build a whole new coop and run as far from the existing one as practical, and start new birds there.

I would decide whether to let the old birds die naturally, or continue where they are, based on my observations (I *don't* consider "natural death" to always be nicer than "helping them humanely" because chickens will hide pain to protect themselves. It's a fine line and based very much on the situation.) However, once the old coop/run was empty, I would clean it thoroughly and re-seed the run area and use it for non-chicken uses for as long as I could, aiming for a minimum of 3 years, preferably 5 years. I'm always looking for deer protected planting areas, so I'm sure I'd make it productive somehow.

After that period, having two areas to rotate birds through is something I always like to have. I don't consider it a "waste of space" but rather important back-up infrastructure in case of any sort of disaster, or just to let an area of soil "rest".

I hope your research on choices for new breeds goes well. I'm sure fellow permies will help by describing their experiences. I certainly have met many different breeds over the years, but that has just made me aware that different breeds do better or worse based on many factors including but not limited to, climate, infrastructure, likely predators, etc.

Short answer: I would avoid introducing any new birds to the same area with the old birds or even shortly after the old birds are gone. Chickens peck and dig, and many things live in the soil for long periods.

Well, I have 1/2 acre for backyard, garden, chickens, so the farthest I can get a new coop is maybe 100 feet. I guess uphill is better than down? I don't really have the capital to even build a new coop right now, either.  And we have dogs, so the chickens and garden have to be sectioned off from where the dogs can be.

Anne Miller wrote:Sorry you are still having more deaths, is this due to the hepatitis?

No, this one was lymphoma. The final report basically said that I should consider my entire flock exposed to Marek's and make sure any incoming birds are vaccinated against it, preferably at hatch.

Timothy Norton wrote:I'm not exactly sure if my interpretation is correct but it may be more genetics than any other factors that might influence the birds health. The breed Golden Comets has some reports of being susceptible to neoplasia floating around the interwebs. Perhaps a different breed of chicken or at least different line of genetics might be something to consider?

This is definitely a factor, at least. In 2023, I got 12 Golden Comets and 12 Black Australorps from our local feed store, two weeks apart.  They use Mt. Healthy Hatcheries for all their chicks, which does vaccinate against Marek's, as far as I know.  I've also heard GCs really aren't as healthy -- after I bought them! But I expected the BAs to do better. They seem to be dying at about the same rate. Although I had some 2020 BAs, too, so it's possible the older ones succumbed. I don't band them, and unlike my son, I really can't tell them apart.

The one that died of hepatitis was a BA, and the one that died of lymphoma was a GC.  I'll need to replenish the flock, and I'm not sure yet how to go about that.

Basically every other Friday this month, I’ve lost one. No symptoms. The mid-October one had the following report:


“At necropsy the bird is in acceptable postmortem condition, thin body condition (BCS 2/5). There is a palpable fluid wave in the coelom. a moderate amount of ascites is present internally. The peritoneum is thickened and opaque. The left liver lobe has a slightly mottled appearance. The mesentery is thickened, tan, with multifocal to coalescing tan nodules of varying sizes. The intestinal walls are thickened. There are nodules around the pancreas. The ovary appears enlarged and neoplastic with tan nodules of varying sizes.
Ddx: Neoplasia (lymphoma vs adenocarcinoma vs other)”


Today’s I just buried. Same breed and age (2 1/2 years, Golden Comets).  I feed Faithway laying pellets.

Should I increase their forage? Switch feeds? I haven’t lost so many so steadily before. I’m not doing anything different from what I’ve always done, but I feel like it’s something I’m doing/not doing.

Update: It's not Avian Flu.

It says final diagnosis: hepatitis (bacterial: acineto. baumanii) with a ruptured gall bladder.
AI RRT-PCR was negative.
MG PCR was negative.
MS PRCR was positive.

So now I need to research that and see what I can do to help the rest of the flock.

Jay Angler wrote:

Emily Smith wrote:The most recently sick hen died, and I took her to the state poultry lab today.  So I’m just waiting now.

My fingers are crossed that you figure out what the problem is and are able to help keep your remaining birds healthy.

We can only do what we can do, and it sounds like you've done that, so I also hope you don't let this discourage you.

The birds sound too old for it to be a coccidiosis problem unless they somehow got a sudden heavy exposure? Another remote possibility is some other poisoning. I know that galvanization contains lead as an example.

Thanks! I'm hoping so too.


One thing that popped up was algae poisoning. We use plastic 5-gallon waterers, so no lead, but I don't clean them as regularly as I should, and algae does build up.

Another forum always says my coop is too small, so maybe over crowding is weakening them?  But it's just a roosting and laying spot, and there's plenty of space in between birds when they roost at night. Especially now. I spaced the bars out horizontally a bit more after cleaning, too.  Coop is 80 sqft. Run is 625 sqft for 32 birds originally, now down to 27 for 705 total daytime sqft.  I've always read 10 sqft minimum per bird for wandering, scratching, etc.

So I changed the bedding, cleaned the nest boxes and roosting bars, oiled the roosting bars, cleaned the feed pans.

I used the PoultryDVM symptom checker, and avian flu didn’t come back as even a low possibility.  

The most recently sick hen died, and I took her to the state poultry lab today.  So I’m just waiting now.

I will say she, like the one right before her, died in a possible Marek’s pose.