Berkley Bacterial Compost Heap

Today we built a bacterial compost heap, using 60% carbon, 40% manure.
First we cleaned out the pig pen, duck house and chicken hutch to collect all their poo. Then wheelbarrow load after wheelbarrow load was taken to the spot we built the heap.
We made it 1m cubed, lasagne-ing layers of straw, then pig poo, straw, duck poo, straw, chicken poo and an occasional bit of comfrey thrown in between layers.
We built the perimeter of each layer first, to ensure we kept it a cube shape and it didn't taper off ending up like a pyramid. It's important to keep it the cube shape so that the heating occurs. Plant pathogens are killed by the heat, and some weed seeds will also be made sterile.
We hosed it all down at the end and covered it lightly with sacks to make the water run off a bit so the nutrients weren't all lost.
The style of compost heap is known as a Berkley compost.. and in 3 or 4 days it needs to be turned, so that the outer layers which won't be as hot as the centre, get a chance to 'cook'. It then needs to be turned several more times in following weeks, and it's ready for use in 3 wks.
Because the centre of the pile becomes extremely hot, and we used a bamboo pole to make a chimney of sorts.. making a vent to let heat escape, because apparently compost heaps can get so hot they combust.
The animal poo wasn't smelly at all, and the compost wasn't either. If the compost starts to smell it's a sign it's anaerobic, which can occur if it gets waterlogged too.

Berkley compost:
A-live
D-iversity
A-erobic
M-oisture

The carbon component can be made up of straw, dry plant material, hay, leaf debris gathered from the chook forage area.
Nitrogen component is from manure and legume leaves (when green), pig poo, duck poo, chicken poo.
Air
Water

A compost heap can create enough heat to provide hot water to your home! Jean Pain came up with this great concept... here's a short vid on how it works.
Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jm-c9B2_ew