Waste bedding problem

[detroitchinchillas]

What do those of you with larger herds do with your waste bedding?

In the past we've placed it in lawn bags for it to be picked up weekly by the compost truck. New to this summer our city changed when they're picking up these bags. They just suspended this service last week without notice! We thought they just skipped our house or something and weren't too worried about it. We didn't get a letter about the change in service in the mail until today! They're not resuming the service until September.

In the mean time, we generate anywhere from 10 to 15 full lawn bags a week. In the winter they don't pick up from the end of November until the start of April. We keep it under tarps to keep the snow off it and just throw three or four extra bags out at a time. Because it's cold, the bags don't degrade as badly as they would in the summer. So I'm not sure that's a solution for us either. We don't have the area available in our yard to start our own composting pile of that magnitude.

Does anyone have any idea what I could do with it? Thanks for your help!

 

[AZChins]

I have a large compost heap that chin waste goes on every week. When I lived in IL I used it as a mulch in flower beds. If that isn't possible, you'll probably have to haul it all to the dump yourself. Or, if there is a farm or something around you, maybe they would allow you to bring it there for their compost piles or maybe they would want it. I've had people take material out of the older pile here and use it for gardening so I guess it is possible someone would want it.

10 to 15 lawn bags a week would make a huge mess if you don't have the room for a decent compost pile. And, one of those little bin composters is way too small.

 

[detroitchinchillas]

Thanks for the response! I tried calling around to a few farms in the area, but being in Metro Detroit they're all a little far. One is near the TSC we buy everything from though, so hopefully they'll get back with us soon!

 

[jags]

Our waste pile is as big as a house but we have many acres here and it is amazing how much the old part of the pile shrinks as the material degrades. I do know some who sell or give there old shavings to horse farms who reuse the used shavings.

 

[AZChins]

Out here if you put the shavings outside for a few days, the sunshine deodorizes the shavings. Unless it rains or I soak down the shavings with water, it doesn't rot! The desert this time of year is in the single digit relative humidity range with temps in the 90s around where I live.

Asking horse people if they'd like to reuse my shavings may be a good idea! We go through a lot of shavings and there's two months worth of dry sun deodorized shavings. Hmmmm...so that's an idea.

 

[Zoaea]

I think you'd have to drop em off. The same company that used to pick them up probably still takes drop offs. Id call them up and see how far the drop off is. If its a big city they might drop off centers for recycling that would take organic matter too.

 

[aznmexaggie]

I use it as mulch for my trees and the sheep like to dig through and eat the dropped hay and pellets...

 

[jags]

Just a thought but with all the landscaping that goes on in the big city maybe a few calls to landscaping companies might find you a company willing to use up what you do not want.