Bought A "tumbler" Compost Bin

[fiveplusone]

I've done a search on composting dog waste here on DOL (and on google etc) but now I'm confused about whether I should have got a worm farm instead? I've read that if you use it for dog waste then you shouldn't put kitchen scraps in there as well which I am ok with but I want to make sure I am using the most effective method.

Does anyone have a "tumbler" type compost bin for their dog poop? If so should I put worms in it? Or just dog poo and something else?

or should I take it back and get a worm farm instead??????

[t-time]

Just add regular composting materials as well. Grass clippings, food scraps (not meat) etc and you *can* add worms to quicken the process though be gentle with the tumbling LOL

If you do have worms in a smaller tumbler compost environment, don't put the dog poo in if you have wormed the dogs - leave it 3-4 days and during that time just dispose of the poop in your "pre-compost" way ie usually bagged in the bin!.

ETA: I certainly would add kitchen scraps and I don't know why it would be suggested *not* to?

Edited August 14, 2010 by t-time

[dogbesotted]

well you cant use compost made with dog faeces for edible gardens.. due to pathogens.

i use a home made septic system.. got the plans from here:

http://www.cityfarmer.org/petwaste.html

i have big dogs who manage to have BIG output

LOL

h

[Enigma]

How big did you make yours and for what size dogs?

[fiveplusone]

Just add regular composting materials as well. Grass clippings, food scraps (not meat) etc and you *can* add worms to quicken the process though be gentle with the tumbling LOL

If you do have worms in a smaller tumbler compost environment, don't put the dog poo in if you have wormed the dogs - leave it 3-4 days and during that time just dispose of the poop in your "pre-compost" way ie usually bagged in the bin!.

ETA: I certainly would add kitchen scraps and I don't know why it would be suggested *not* to?

I had read that if you add kitchen scraps in with dog poo the worm 'prefer' the scraps and therefore won't do anything to the dog poo. Maybe I will just chuck it all in with some worms and see what happens!

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

just remember that if you have wormed your dogs the dog poo will have the worming chemical in it and this will kill the compost worms

[Lab lady]

I use a worm farm for the dog pooh ( 3 Labs, so a fair amount of pooh ) I also add food waste and the worms eat the lot. I don't put the pooh in for 5 days after i have wormed the dogs and have had no problems.

I don't think you could put worms in a tumble style because of the way the worms work, you would be constantly mixing the fresh with the old and i don't think the worms like that.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

I use a worm farm for the dog pooh ( 3 Labs, so a fair amount of pooh ) I also add food waste and the worms eat the lot. I don't put the pooh in for 5 days after i have wormed the dogs and have had no problems.

I don't think you could put worms in a tumble style because of the way the worms work, you would be constantly mixing the fresh with the old and i don't think the worms like that.

good to know after 5 days the poo is ok to compost txs

[dogbesotted]

How big did you make yours and for what size dogs?

i used a large plastic bin, drilled holes etc. i have 6 maremma sheepdogs!!!!!!!!!!!

H

[rastus_froggy]

Just add regular composting materials as well. Grass clippings, food scraps (not meat) etc and you *can* add worms to quicken the process though be gentle with the tumbling LOL

If you do have worms in a smaller tumbler compost environment, don't put the dog poo in if you have wormed the dogs - leave it 3-4 days and during that time just dispose of the poop in your "pre-compost" way ie usually bagged in the bin!.

ETA: I certainly would add kitchen scraps and I don't know why it would be suggested *not* to?

I had read that if you add kitchen scraps in with dog poo the worm 'prefer' the scraps and therefore won't do anything to the dog poo. Maybe I will just chuck it all in with some worms and see what happens!

I have 2 worm farms, one that the dog poo and some kitchen scraps go in and another that just kitchen scraps go in, the worms go nuts in the one with both, they breed far more than the one with just the kitchen scraps. Having 2 works great for me as I feed the worms out of the dog poo one to the fish and axilotils and the castings out of that one are used in my flower gardens and I use the castings out of the kitchen scraps one for the vegi garden.

[fiveplusone]

Thanks for all your replies. The "tumbler" is now in use sitting proudly in the corner of the garden. Its got wet newspaper (thats what the instruction manual said ) and lawn clippings and a small bag of compost worms, just to see how it all goes. Time will tell. Dog hasn't obliged us with any 'presents' yet today so but I am waiting eagerly to try out the new dog loo! hmmm, if only I could train him to remove the lid and use it like a toilet!

[TigerJack]

dogbesotted, what is the local version of the septic starter powder called?

[Kaffy Magee]

Ive been thinking about getting a worm farm for my dogs waste, but Im not sure exactly how much poo you can put in it at a time and how long does it take to break down? I have had 20 bullmastiff puppies, and 3 adult bullmastiffs, so as you can imagine there was lots of poo! Ive been taking it out far into the paddocks and dumping it, but its a lot of hassle. I will have 5 buillmastiffs after the final pups find new homes and want to know if that is too much poo for one worm farm. I know it probably depends alot on what you feed to how much poo there is but just on average, is 5 lots of poo a day too much for one farm? Or if I went with a compost hole in the ground like in the link, how long does it take to break down or will the hole fill up too quickly? For one or two dogs it would be alright but what about 5? Any help appreciated.

[Ms Genki]

Any tips on how to encourge the worms to take to the poo? I have one farm for kitchen scraps and one solely for poo but they hardly ever touch the latter . There are about 2000 worms in each colony.

Edited August 15, 2010 by Ms Genki

[rastus_froggy]

Any tips on how to encourge the worms to take to the poo? I have one farm for kitchen scraps and one solely for poo but they hardly ever touch the latter :D. There are about 2000 worms in each colony.

I wonder if what you feed your dogs makes a difference as to if the worms like it or not?

I really don't know but mine that are in the dog poo with just a few kitchen scraps are breeding prolifically at the moment, there are millions of babies in there.

[fiveplusone]

Any tips on how to encourge the worms to take to the poo? I have one farm for kitchen scraps and one solely for poo but they hardly ever touch the latter :D. There are about 2000 worms in each colony.

I wonder if what you feed your dogs makes a difference as to if the worms like it or not?

I really don't know but mine that are in the dog poo with just a few kitchen scraps are breeding prolifically at the moment, there are millions of babies in there.

I wondered that too, what do you feed yours?