A good compost mix requires the proper blend of carbon, nitrogen and moisture to support rapid microbial growth and break down the base materials. Manure from caged laying hens has plenty of nitrogen, but you generally have to add a carbon source like sawdust or straw to compost it thoroughly, and if the manure is dry when removed from the house, water will need to be added to the compost. Kreider Farms, Manheim, Pa., has developed a composting method that combines the best characteristics of its layer and dairy wastes to produce valuable compost without having to add anything from off the farm.

Kreider Farms’ dairy operation is on the company’s 1,500 acre Indian Village Road farm which also has houses for 920,000 laying hens. The company operates several other farms, and, in total, these farms encompass 2,500 acres with 27 poultry houses which can house up to 3.5 million hens. Kreider Farms ranked twenty-sixth in the 2008 USA’s Top Egg Company rankings which appeared in the January issue of Egg Industry magazine.

On the Indian Village Road farm, egg wash water, from the egg packing house, is routed through the same treatment system used for processing the dairy waste. A series of wastewater treatment lagoons is used to treat this combined waste stream. Treated water is used to irrigate the fields on the farm, which are used to raise corn, alfalfa, rye grass and grass hay for the dairy herd. Solids from this treatment process are run through a press and combined with the layer manure for composting. The dairy manure solids provide the carbon source and moisture that the layer manure lacks and the combination composts well.

The compost bays have piping in the floor to provide forced aeration of the pile and speed the compost process. Poultry house mortalities are also composted in these compost piles. The compost is made of 25 percent chicken manure and 75 percent dairy manure solids. Roughly 85 percent of the poultry litter and dairy manure generated on the farm is composted and sold to outside businesses. A portion of the composted material is sold to a local wholesale landscaping company while the remainder is sold to nurseries in neighboring Pennsylvania and New Jersey towns. The remaining 15 percent of composted poultry litter and dairy manure is applied to pasture and crop land in accordance with an up-to-date comprehensive nutrient management plan.

In addition to its on farm operation, Kreider Farms operates a dairy which processes, bottles and sells milk and also makes ice cream. Kreider Farms sells a portion of its dairy products and eggs at retail outlets the company operates and at its three Pennsylvania restaurants. Online tours of Kreider Farms operations are available on the company’s website.

Kreider Farms was selected as one of the Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award winning farms by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. This award is given in recognition of exemplary environmental stewardship by family farmers engaged in poultry and egg production. Kreider Farms was chosen to receive an award for the innovative handling of by-products.