Compost Bin Of Guinea Pig Waste

Status
Not open for further replies.
chrissy88

chrissy88

Teenage Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
667
Reaction score
16
Points
325
Location
Cardiff, Wales
I'm thinking of getting a compost bin for our guinea pig waste - wet sawdust hay food etc i have 5 pigs so I'm filling up nearly 2 black bags worth a week as my brilliant council does not accept soiled sawdust in the green bin for some odd reason. so that with nappies and everything else its a squeeze to get it all in as i cant stand having the odd black bag of rubbish left to wait 2 weeks for its collection.

so who here uses a compost bin? are they worth it? i have a small garden.
 
It is something I have thought of doing as well, as I have a large garden and grow my own things... I don't know where to start on composting though!
 
That would be brill thanks! To say I am a gardener and grower I have never had my own compost bin...
 
Well I had a reply. They said they haven't been asked before about using one for guinea pig waste. But he had a read on the Internet and you can use it but you need to keep the moisture right otherwise it will combust ?!?

And the amount of bags I fill up the bin will be filled faster than it will turn it into compost as it's aimed for kitchen and garden waste rather than constant use in vast quantity.

So doesn't look like getting a bin will do me any good =(
 
I don't know why your council wont collect your piggy waste, my local council even gave me a second large garden wheely bin and empty 2 full wheely bins every fortnight. :tu:
 
I have 2 compost bins in my garden that work in rotation. I fill one while the other is composting then in October I empty the composted one, spread it and start refilling it while the other composts. I put all my uncooked veg peelings in it and teabags, grass cuttings and some piggy waste. The thing with composting is that you need a bit of everything. If you just fill it with piggy waste it will not be very good. In fact a fair amount of the hay didn't compost - hay went in: hay came out. I think that was down to moisture. It is amazing though - you look at this huge bin and think 'there is no way I can fill that with bits of veggies' but over a year you can...easily!

The only downside to it is that you need worms to compost - worms make me want to puke!
 
I live on a rural area, so this may not be any good if you only have a small garden but you could just have a patch where you dump it on the ground, maybe where you dump grass clippings or whatever, and it will eventually rot down. I have some trees that had to be cut down and they were turned into woodchip piles and those are rotting down pretty well.
But maybe don't put down any food waste, as that will attract rats and mice.
I like to collect the turds every day and put them on the lawn and flowerbeds, they make the plants grow really nicely.
 
i don't either, its blumming stupid. when we lived in lancaster they had no problem just told me yeah no probs stick it the green bin but here its like oh no cant do that. think i might write them another email voicing my opinion on this again lol.
 
I have 4 personal compost bins...mainly for grass cuttings......
.....and two green waste Council recycling bins.

My Council take "moderate" hay/sawdust/herbivore waste every 2 weeks ....(and I fill both bins full with litter in preparation for their collection!)

To date no problems from the Council. Nor any challenge to my having "2" bins instead of "1"

Excessive piggie litter gets put into black plastic bags and then taken to our local dump for green waste...(which also accepts herbivore waste for composting).

HTH
x
 
We have a compost bin which we hope by next year we'll have some lovely guinea pig enriched compost. *fingers crossed* I filled it quite quickly and after watching Gardener's World we ended up emptying it and chopping it up with a lawn mower. I think it's amazing how worms can help make something! Plus my father in law is always giving us advise on what products to use to help break down the content quicker.

Although next year we're going to get a brown bin as I tend to fill the General bin very quickly meaning we end up struggling to get rid of our household waste :P
 
I have 3 compost bins i shove all the piggy poo and dirty hay in them aswell as household waste and leaves etc.... When full i cover with grass cuttings to help it break down with the heat and move onto next one. Time thats full the others decomposing nicely.
 
Rodentopia said:
I have 3 compost bins i shove all the piggy poo and dirty hay in them aswell as household waste and leaves etc.... When full i cover with grass cuttings to help it break down with the heat and move onto next one. Time thats full the others decomposing nicely.
Click to expand...
How big bins do you have? Or are they the sort of open pen like ones?
 
I prefer an open bay to the plastic bins because it's easier to access in order to turn the heap, turning should be done periodically to get air in and mix things up so it composts faster. You just have to cover it with something such as a black plastic sheet, tarpaulin or old carpet.

You would need to balance out woodshavings/paper with the hay, grass clippings, kitchen waste and other green matter such as leaves.

It needs to have good drainage (having it on the soil and keeping it covered helps with this) because it won't break down as well (and it will smell) if it's too wet.

The composting process can take a while (up to 2+ years) so having a rotational system, with two bays/bins is a good idea. It will take less time if you get the balance of materials, moisture and temperature right and turn it regularly.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top