[Yorkshire Lass]

I am suddenly in the very fortunate position of having access to an unlimited supply of Guinea Pig Manure, that is manure and all the contents of there cages, mostly sawdust with a handful of hay.  I have filled an empty compost bin, however I am unsure as to when of if it will be use able. 

Any thoughts or thought or comments gratefully received   

[8doubles]

I would layer it in the green compost bin as it could be a bit on the dry side to rot down as it is.
It would also be good at any stage of composting if put in a runner bean trench.

Apart from that it's good to go when it looks like compost !

[snowdrops]

I think it's like rabbit manure & can be used straight away , doesn't need to be composted

[Tenhens]

Do you have any say in what bedding the GP's are using ?   The reason I ask this is because we used to use shavings when we had a small animal rescue and I tried , unsuccessfully , to compost it. We now use a Rape seed product that composts down really well.  We also use it in our chicken coup.

We now do small animal holiday boarding and unless the customer either brings or asks for shavings , we use the Rape seed product, there is not much difference in the price.

The hay should not be a problem.


Have just found the following on the Accidential Smallholder site , the bit about wee relates to male and not female , can't remember the reason.

"  hello,
      wood shavings/sawdust do rob the soil of nitrogen if just added fresh . But they are perfectly ok to use in a compost heap ,depending on how much you have . The thing with shavings/sawdust is that it takes a long time to rot down and will use available nitrogen during that time making it unavailable for plants . The way round it is to mix it with animal manure (chicken manure is ideal ) and plenty of stuff rich in nitrogen ie grass cuttings, comfrey leaves, stinging nettles or any green veggie type stuff. As with any compost keep things even and well mixed, this will make the best compost .If there is a high shaving mix it will take longer to rot down , but it will rot . You can also add plenty of urine to it as well . If the shavings are quite dry soak them with a 20-1 mix of wee and water . The wee can be any type human or whatever...lol but I have heard tell that mens wee after they have been to the pub is best ...Wee is a very good activator for any compost heap . Hope that helps a bit ...."

There may be something similar on these pages , I found this piece via google.

[Yorkshire Lass]

I would layer it in the green compost bin as it could be a bit on the dry side to rot down as it is.
It would also be good at any stage of composting if put in a runner bean trench.

Apart from that it's good to go when it looks like compost !

I have been giving the compost bin a drink as it always looked far to dry, will add a bit of the green stuff from now on as well. 

Thanks for you advice