Bridget

Hi Bridget,
Sorry for being slow to respond... From my experience, the biggest cause of odor is lack of ventilation. If you are able to cut a hole in the bucket (or whatever you have covering it) and cover it with mesh, that should help. Or you have already done that, try putting more holes (for cross ventilation) or bigger holes. Another thing you can do it bury the food waste with a thin layer of dirt - this should help contain the odors a little better. As far as the cause of the smell, I suppose it could be the cabbage - I'm not a huge cabbage fan, so I don't have much experience with it in my worm bin. Meat and dairy products can get pretty smelly, but if you haven't added any of those, it might be a combination of the cabbage with not enough ventilation. Also, you mentioned that it could be too wet - this could be a problem if there is not adequate drainage. If they are still in the bucket, I would drill some small holes in the bottom to allow any excess water to drain out. Let me know how they are doing - I'd be really interested to hear what works and doesn't work for your situation...

Lisa

"I have a question about soft shell eggs. I have 3 hens (2 Buff Orphingtons and 1 Americauna). They are 6 1/2 months old. We have been getting a soft shelled egg every once in a while from one of the Buffs. The other 2 are consistent layers. What…"

Comments

Lisa Taylor October 5, 2008 at 9:54pm

I'm so happy to hear that you are having so much fun with the worms!! And do let me know how they do with their new setup - I'm curious to hear how it worked out...

Lisa
Lisa Taylor October 5, 2008 at 2:20pm

Hi Bridget,
Sorry for being slow to respond... From my experience, the biggest cause of odor is lack of ventilation. If you are able to cut a hole in the bucket (or whatever you have covering it) and cover it with mesh, that should help. Or you have already done that, try putting more holes (for cross ventilation) or bigger holes. Another thing you can do it bury the food waste with a thin layer of dirt - this should help contain the odors a little better. As far as the cause of the smell, I suppose it could be the cabbage - I'm not a huge cabbage fan, so I don't have much experience with it in my worm bin. Meat and dairy products can get pretty smelly, but if you haven't added any of those, it might be a combination of the cabbage with not enough ventilation. Also, you mentioned that it could be too wet - this could be a problem if there is not adequate drainage. If they are still in the bucket, I would drill some small holes in the bottom to allow any excess water to drain out. Let me know how they are doing - I'd be really interested to hear what works and doesn't work for your situation...

Lisa

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