Hen poo into compost

My hen produces poo by the ton.  Having a small garden with so very few grass clippings in summer only and very little organic kitchen waste I've never composted before.

I dispose of poo and newspaper all the time into my wheelie bin and this seems such a waste. 

I'd like to have some kind of 'bin' to place the poo into rather than throw it away...

Is there a practical solution for a possible composting set-up?

Kate

I collect all the poop deposited by my girls and boy in a bucket with a lid on and once I have a bucket full I take it down my allotment and pop the lot in my compost bin. You can add the bedding from your hen house, shredded paper and any (non meat) food scraps you have and compost the lot! Chook poop composts down very well and reletavely quickly and you will end up with super rich compost to use in your garden. Your palnts will certainly love the rich organic matter! Definately don't throw it away - you chooks are providing you with a lovely by-product as well as eggs! Good girls!! 

Thank you all!
That link is wonderful - love the cute little compostors.  I have only poo and newspaper/bedding to contrubute.  Hoping this is doable.... more research...
I'll be back if stuck.

Kate

I'm interested in doing this too particularly as the local council now only do rubbish pick ups once a fortnight.

I think I read somewhere that it takes about 3 months to break down into useable compost is this about right?

Thanks for the info Kegs. Do you / others use chicken dropping based compost when growing fruit / vegatables. I was thinking back to the eColi breakout in Germany earlier this year.

I did a search in the growing your own section of this site and found a link http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09369.html which indicated that you have to be very careful that it is properly composted. In the manure management section of the article (hope everybody has had their lunch!) it suggests how this can be ensured but the process seems to take 2 to 4 months.

It has to be said that I am not much of a gardener but I do try and grow tomatoes, runner beans, potatoes and cucumbers (with varying degrees of success  ) each year so I wouldn't want to take any risks!

I hope it's just wood ash that you're using and not coal, I don't know what the consequences are, but everything I have read tells you not to use coal ash!!!

I hope it's just wood ash that you're using and not coal, I don't know what the consequences are, but everything I have read tells you not to use coal ash!!!

It is just wood ash, I wouldn't know about coal, but as a kid growing up we burnt coal in the aga and that got thrown out in the garden!! I'm not dead yet!!!