Best way to compost?

I now have a steady "supply" of compostable stuff thanks to the quails I got in December, and my council's recent decision to stop accepting pet waste at the local tip. There's too much to go in my wheelie bin, so I will be composting it.

Presently I've got woodshavings and will have for a few more weeks, then I'm switching them onto oil seed rape straw, which is supposed to compost down quicker.

What's the best way to work with these? Give them their own bin, mix with other materials etc? Thanks.

 

Woodshavings will rot down faster and produce a better quality compost if they're mixed with other materials, particularly soft 'green' material such as grass cuttings, vegetable peelings etc.

I use woodshavings for my chickens and they break down surprisingly quickly when I mix them in with all the other garden waste.

 

So what are dog and cat owners expected to do with it then?

 

We have tons of woodshavings thanks to me and mr jane being woodworkers.

Best bet is to donate them to the local stable in exchange for a bag of manure. Currently we donate them to the neighbour across the road who has a wood burner. I have used them as a mulch in the past for my strawberries and ut takes years for certain species of wood, suck as oak shavings to rot down. Ive heard soaking it with urine helps immensely but have not yet tried it myself.

 

Apparently we can put a "small amount" in our general waste bin, and we're allowed one carrier bag per fortnight at the tip. So my dogs' mess can go in the bin still (phew).

My quails, though, provide more than one carrier bag per week so I'll have a fair bit of it! I've set up my two empty compost bins today in readiness.

There won't be many woodshavings in there - I've got a small bin bag full right now, and what's in the cage (bout half a bin bag) presently then hopefully, I'll be switching to the oil seed rape straw at the end of the week.

 

That's really interesting. So, I'm guessing it isn't dependent on the size of the dog/cat? Which seems a bit mean really: the person with a small dog getting the same allowance as a person with a large dog. Ozzy is a large dog (over 9 stone) and a "small amount" for him would equate to a sizeable amount for say a Yorkshire terrier
Not that it is an issue for me, I take him out and he does his business outside and I bag it for the doggy bins. But, if I were taken ill for a few days, I have no doubt just how quickly that one carrier bag limit could become an issue

 

While it's a good idea @Jungle Jane, I doubt the stables would want their wood shaving or SHOULDN'T! Wood shavings sold for use as bedding for horses SHOULD have been through a dust extraction process. Dusty shavings equals risking starting up COPD which equals massive vet bills! I once was given a truck load of shavings from a saw mill. Put some down and within about 4 hours I could hardy breath in the stables and had to take the horses out. Most stables will be happy for you to collect bags of manure for free.
I agree wood shavings break down much quicker if mixed with other (green) materials and yes Straw will rot down faster than wood shavings. The wetter you can keep the shavings the better too. When we bedded 3 horses on shavings (that's A LOT of shavings to deal with per week) I used to having the hose running on the manure heap a fair bit during the summer to keep everything from drying out.

 

I wouldn't worry, it takes longer than you'd think even for a big dog! I have 9, they range from 16kg up to 35kg and if we don't go out for walks for a while (happened a couple of times last year due to kennel cough), it takes about 3 days' worth of poo from my guys to fill one carrier bag. I reckon you'd be ok!

But, the one carrier bag thing here is for taking waste direct to the tip - it doesn't specify an amount for the wheelie bin. So I'm not worried on that front!

Stables - I wouldn't even try. Fresh shavings will be dusty, shavings that have been japanese quails are insane. They are incredibly dusty little birds and they make a LOT of mess, high proportion of ammonia in it for such dinky little things. Compost only, for that.

 

When I had dogs I lifted the drain cover on my drive and disposed of their mess there, which is then flushed through from using the bathroom. I still have to do it now because of the huge population of cats in my neighbourhood that insist on using my garden for their convenience!