I use a lot of lawn clippings for mulch and compost, but I don't have a lawn: I get the lawnmowing guys to drop off clippings when I need them. We don't use much in the way of lawn herbicides over here though.
Are the trees growing in grass? I know it wasn't your question, but young trees really resent the competition.
More OT advice: if you get hens, be ready for the complete annihilation of any form of life in the run, and any out of it (especiall vege gardens) if they escape.
Just try and keep plants away from the walnut: the juglone'll make them miserable but as far as I know the leaves are ok to compost and you'll need plenty of carbon if you're using high-nitrogen manures.
I recommend looking at chipped tree 'deep litter' for the hens, maybe the rabbits too, then chuck it all on the compost every couple of months.
With limited space, it's important to limit inputs and their storage requirements.
For example, a pile of free tree mulch can cover animal litter, fruit tree mulch, paths

What is the size of your back yard? What regulations, if any, govern what you can do composting?

I would love to hear ideas and comments about your insight on this subject and how much room I might need. Thanks Ken

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There's never enough space. :-)

It doesn't take a whole lot of space to make a pile. A tumbler might also be useful.

Certainly, having enough room to build 3 piles and maneuver a wheel barrow is ideal, but a simple pile will also work.

I made a bin from shipping pallets.

I stopped "storing" materials to make compost many years ago because I found that in storage if that material was close enough to having nealy all the right components it started composting anyway. Today as I get material it is mixed together in a bin and allowed to compost. As I add more material the bacteria get more active and digest the stuff faster but otherwise I see no problems.

>What is the size of your back yard? What regulations, if any, govern what you can do composting?

I live in the back of a culdesac so I have a decent yard all the on three sides of the house. I have dedicated a large portion to my raised beds etc. I have garden beds that are 4x24, 4x20, 2.5x30 and one odd shape that is 24 long and 8 wide at one end and 14 wide at the other. That adds up to 435 sq ft of garden beds. I also have room to do some container gardening in some of the in between spaces.

As far as rules on composting go, I had not thought about that. I guess I better look that up. Thanks

>Certainly, having enough room to build 3 piles and maneuver a wheel barrow is ideal, but a simple pile >will also work.

I was reading "Composting for idiots" this evening. It mentioned a 3 pile system. I think I could fit 3 4x4 bins along the fence on the garden side of the yard. This area is 30 to 40 feet from my neighbors front door, so I will need to keep things well in control. Thanks Ken

>Today as I get material it is mixed together in a bin and allowed to compost. As I add more material >the bacteria get more active and digest the stuff faster but otherwise I see no problems.

Are you working with vegetable garden material? Is it reasonably easy to keep a pest and smell free pile this way. We generate larger quantities when we pull up all the tomato plants etc to make room for the next crop. We are able to garden year round here. Does this work well for this kind of varied amounts of material? Thanks Ken

It may sound strange, but I think if I was raising rabbits or chickens, I think I'd try to find ways to create "compost bins" under the rabbit cages and under roosting areas. Start with a layer of browns, animals do their thing, add another layer of browns, etc. Yeah, okay, it would have to be scooped out and turned, maybe into another bin, but I think I'd try to find a way.

There's plenty of rabbit-over-wormfarm plans online. Put 'permaculture' in the search terms.

I knew a lady with rabbits and she did exactly that, built a pallet bin and put the cages over the top, with hardware cloth on the bottom so the poop would go right through into the compost pile. Worked like a charm.

Go with simple and cheap at the start. I use hardware cloth to make a simple mesh bin. Can be moved easily, or make larger with another piece of material.

If your location and regulations restrict what you can do, make one or two larger bins over many small bins. It was not hard for me to make my nine small bins into two large rectangular bins since they were all made of hardware cloth. In spite of our monthly government circular encouraging residents to compost, when the inspector came around (helps to have good neighbors), he told me I could only have two bins. Later, I checked their website on regs, and could not find any such statement.

I like your idea of a planning strategy, rather than just asking 'what is the best composter?'. Because it depends on such things as your health, materials available, and how much compost you want or need.