FINCHforum

Any gardeners out there?

I'm thinking of getting a compost tumbler. There is so much waste from my cages - some have newspaper on the bottom, others have a mix of straw and leaves. I was wondering if these things could be added to the compost pile. I've been reading about this online. Some people say it's dangerous, that birds have diseases, but what diseases are they talking about with captive birds? And if they were diseased, wouldn't I have gotten sick by now? I always read that bird poop made great fertilizer. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I throw litter from my bird cage and from my bunnies litter box in the compost (although a have a bin and not a tumbler). Just chose a good litter for composting and throw other things in there to get a variety to get a healthy compost.
I use the finished soil in my strawberry garden (it's not big but it gives a lot of strawberries (and wild strawberries) every year).

You need to ensure the compost process has killed the waste seeds otherwise any vegetarian animal waste is good. I get horse and chicken manure for mine.

birds can carry cocci, parasites, giardia without showing outward signs until stressed, weakened, breeding.... just a thought.

I was told all horse manure if used in a vegetable garden/garden had to be heated/cooked to make sure disease was not passed (ecoli).