Dead Bird Composter Requirements from the MISSISSIPPI BOARD OF ANIMAL HEALTH and
VETERINARY DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY
- THE SIZE AND BIN VOLUME OF THE COMPOSTER WILL BE DETERMINED BY A POULTRY EPIDEMIOLOGIST.
- THE HEIGHT OF BINS SHOULD NOT EXCEED 5 FEET.
- THE WIDTH OF THE BINS IS USUALLY SELECTED TO ACCOMMODATE THE LOADING/UNLOADING EQUIPMENT. A WIDTH OF 8 FEET IS NORMAL, BUT THE BINS COULD BE WIDER.
- MOST BINS ARE TYPICALLY 5 or 6 FEET DEEP, ALTHOUGH DEEPER BINS CAN USED. LONGER BINS ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO ENTER OR EXIT AND TAKE MORE TIME TO WORK.
- SECONDARY BINS CAN BE A LARGE SINGLE BIN OR AN OPEN SPACE WITHIN THE COMPOSTER FACILITY. THESE BINS CAN ALSO BE ON THE SAME SCALE AS THE PRIMARY BINS.
- YOU MUST HAVE EXTRA SPACE FOR THE STORAGE OF THE LITTER USED IN THE COMPOSTING PROCESS.
- CEILING HEIGHT OF THE COMPOSTER SHOULD BE ADEQUATE TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR EQUIPMENT. AN EXAMPLE (A FRONT END LOADER EXTENDED UPWARD.)
- EXTEND CONCRETE FLOORING BEYOND THE BINS TO ALLOW A TRACTOR OR OTHER EQUIPMENT TO WORK ENTIRELY ON A CONCRETE SURFACE. A MINIMUM OF 4-INCH THICK CONCRETE IS NEEDED.
- ROOF OVERHANG MUST EXTEND SUFFICIENTLY TO PREVENT BLOWING RAIN FROM REACHING THE COMPOST.
- A WATER SOURCE NEEDS TO BE NEARBY. IN THE COMPOST RECIPE WATER IS OFTEN ADDED TO HELP THE PROCESS OR COOL THE COMPOSTING PROCESS IF IT REACHES EXTREME TEMPERATURES.
- A COMPOST THERMOMETER IS NEEDED TO MONITOR THE DAILY TEMPERATURES.
THERE IS NO SPECIFIC PLAN OR LAYOUT REQUIRED FOR COMPOSTERS. MANY DIFFERENT DESIGNS WILL PERFORM ADEQUATELY. PLEASE CONTACT A POULTRY EPIDEMIOLOGIST BEFORE BUILDING A COMPOSTER OR CONTACT YOUR LOCAL CONSERVATION DISTRICT IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COST-SHARING FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR A COMPOST FACILITY.
For more information about this Web page contact the site webmaster
For information about Mississippi State University, contact msuinfo@ur.msstate.edu.
Last modified: Monday, 31-August-1998.
URL: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/comprec.htm
Mississippi State University is an equal opportunity institution.