Bin has ammonia smell

by Neil
(Alberta)

The last two times I have turned the soil in my bin I have gotten a real strong ammonia type smell. Not sure what the cause is but hope you can help with the problem.
Neil

Answer from BigTex Worms:

You can get an ammonia smell from compost for two main reasons:
1. Feeding manure to your bin that has not been rinsed. If you do not rinse your manure several times, you leave the urine on it and it will smell of strong ammonia.
2. If your PH has gotten way out of whack.
If you do not feed manure, you can assume your ph is acidic and I would add a sprinkling of baking soda to the bin and mix it in, leave it be for a few days.

If you think it is a manure/urine problem, I would wrangle as much worms as possible and rinse the bedding a few times then put them back in it if the smell bothers you, otherwise it should dissipate on its own after some time.