can you compost chicken bedding?
Yes — soiled coop bedding is manure and carbon already blended, which makes it one of the easiest things to build a hot pile around.
breaks down in 3–6 months hot; longer if the bedding is coarse shavings
C:N ≈ 30:1
which bins can take it?
- hot pile yes
- cold pile caution
- worm bin caution
- bokashi no
- tumbler yes
- curbside caution
- cold pile: It will rot down eventually, but without heat you keep the pathogens and the weed seeds from spilled feed.
- worm bin: Only after it has heated and cooled — fresh litter's ammonia drives worms out of the bin.
- curbside: Backyard-flock litter counts as animal waste in most curbside rules; a few programs allow it bagged with yard waste.
why?
Shavings or straw supply the carbon and the droppings supply the nitrogen, and a deep-litter coop has effectively been pre-composting the mix underfoot for weeks. Dumped into a pile at a cubic yard or more, that blend routinely drives core temperatures past 140°F within days. The heat matters here: poultry litter is where Salmonella and Campylobacter live, and both die off quickly in the thermophilic range.
how to prep it
- Pile a full coop cleanout at once instead of adding it by the shovelful
- Soak dry shavings thoroughly — they shed water when dust-dry
- Turn once the core temperature starts falling to cycle the edges through
watch out for
- Cedar shavings contain aromatic oils that suppress the microbes you're counting on; pine or straw bedding composts much faster.
- Diatomaceous earth dusted for mites is inert silica that survives composting and irritates lungs — wet the litter before you shovel it.
- Finished litter compost should still cure a few weeks before it goes on beds where you grow salad greens.
often confused with
- Bagged poultry litter fertilizer — Commercial pelleted litter is heat-treated and ready to apply; a coop cleanout still needs its own hot cycle.
quick answers
How often should I clean the coop for composting?
Deep-litter keepers strip the coop twice a year and get a huge, half-composted load each time — ideal for pile building. Weekly cleanouts give smaller, wetter batches that need extra browns mixed in.
Can I compost bedding with eggshells and feed spillage in it?
Yes to both. Crushed shells add calcium and won't slow anything down, and spilled grain is just more nitrogen — though it can sprout, so a hot pile keeps volunteer wheat out of your beds.