Martha - I use the pallets for my small compost piles. I like the
idea of making effective re-use of an aitem which, until recently,
represented a disposal problem. I like the open front for finished
compost, but I tie a 4th pallet to the face of the first three,
thereby closing the door on piles that are building or cooking. One
year I got fancy and made groves for 8x's in the face. That way I
could close the whole thing by sliding 8x4s (or whatever they are
lenght wise) in the grooves until I got the height of solid wall that
I wanted or needed. At unload time, you just take out as many as you
need to to get to the finished compost (or at turning time) It's
contrary to my original goal of making the most of found item, but I
commonly staple hardware cloth to the inner face of the pallets to
avoid losing a single crumb. Good chickens, of course, will still hop
in the stack, but they'll be working for you rather than against you!!
Try to keep your starting piles at least 4x4
compost first: John brought home a large hoop. Plastic, about 4
feet diameter, 3 feet tall. He thought it'd make a good compost pit.
I'm currently using just pallets wired together. I like the air flow and
double wall system of pallets, but the front is open so I can haul
stable cleanings and just dump. It's easy access to both myself
and the chickens. They keep it scratched up (and often out) so
much of the household waste is eaten up before the compost can
activate it.
The ring would eliminate all the scratching and tossing, but I don't
know if it's a good choice for good compost. (Is it going to be too
airless or keep it too wet? ) OTOH, I can also just upend the ring
once a pit has been built and encircle somewhere else pretty easy
with this thing.
