The holes need to be on the bottom also so if moisture builds up it will drain. A proper system barely leaks though. The items that take longer to break down and are browns such as the sticks would decompose better on the bottom. The best way to achieve balance is to use minimum two thirds browns(paper, leaves, coir,cardboard) and then one third greens(food scraps, grains, grass, manure).

Plain and simple chicken manure stinks! Fowl have only one place for waste to exit so it is a mixture of urine and manure. I cant even handle putting fowl manure on the top layer in my outside compost bin.

Fowl manure also tends to be VERY high in nitrogen content (because of the only one exit), thus it will heat up a bin more easily than any other type of manure.

Holes are nedded in the bottom of the bin. I personally only use 1 1/2 inch hole in the lowest point in the bin (mainly due to castings leaking out). However the more holes you have the better the aeration.

Your above method looks alot like the layering method. It is used with a layer of bedding, a layer of foodstuffs, a layer of bedding etc. Sticks take a loooooong time to break down in a bin. They will help with aeration but you will probably have to pick them out when harvesting. Im lazy and prefer the end result to take as little effort as possible.

Bryan

I would just avoid the sticks. Use the paper for bedding and veggie scraps and stuff for food. Need some holes in the bottom too.

Chuckiebtoo

I gave up using holes on the bottom. I have holes on side NEAR bottom, but definitely not bottom. If it gets too wet---which I've learned to not let it do----I use other methods for drainage.

If you HAVE to have holes on the bottom----then I should have a laundryroom filled with dead worms in bins!

Miz B