Chicken litter compost?

[savilcr]

how do you compost or turn chicken litter into fertilizer? is it bad to just till it straight into the garden?

 

[Fred's Hens]

I grow commercially. Our chicken litter is valuable. You can apply it, till it in, anytime up to 30 days before planting or 60 days before harvesting, which is about the same cut off time. I only have to "stock pile" during May-September. The acidity issues depends entirely upon your soil. Ours is naturally a touch acidic here. (do a ph test). We add lime, in appropriate amounts, every spring.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I put mine straight into the garden, but you do have to allow a certain amount of time as Fred says. I've got a nice pile of brooder bedding that's about to be turned under when I plant my sweet potatoes. They'll be harvested in October so there will be months between application and harvest.

For things where the edible parts grow low to or in the ground and especially if they are eaten raw you ought to leave about four months between applying the litter and the harvest. This will usually mean applying it a month or more before planting.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

I add chicken manure/litter to the garden anytime!

Okay, so here is how I do it:

I don't like to weed! It doesn't amuse me, so I don't do it.
I don't like to water! It costs money, and even with a watering system set up, I still have to turn the nozzle "on" and then I have to return 20 minutes later to turn it "off". I rarely do it.
I don't like to add fertilizer! I don't want to pay for it and I don't want one more thing to do.

So, what do all my dislikes have to do with chicken manure being applied any ol' day? Well, when I plant, I lay newspaper in-between plants right up to the stalk (I start most things in the green house) and over top three or four layers of newspaper, I will lay chicken manure soiled straw.

The soiled straw holds down paper.
The paper covered with straw prevents the weeds from growing.
The zinc in the newspaper works a bit like an anti-bacterial.
The layers of newspaper provide a barrier between the soil and the manure and thus prevents the manure from "burning" your plants.
The "mulch" prevents moisture loss through evaporation AND it keeps the soil temperature warmer, which promotes growth.

I continue to add layers of manure/bedding on rows, hills, etc. throughout the season, throughout the year. The bedding (carbon) and manure (nitrogen) balance, then ages on top of the soil while easing my other chores (weeding, watering). In the spring/fall, the manure, bedding, newspaper get tilled in the soil.

I will also layer grass clippings (if I have them--I usually don't, as I don't mow--that's the job of the ducks and geese) sometimes a guy who mows yards for a living will bring his clippings and we layer that in-between the rows, the same as the manure. We also lay weeds from elsewhere in-between the rows. We allow the roots to dry/die of exposure.

(I also have seven worm factories at the garden, in addition to three more compost bins that are rotated throughout the year. I know some folks who put chicken manure and the red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) together. I see no need to do that, so I haven't tried it and I don't know if it works out. My worms job is to eat my kitchen scraps that don't go to the birds. The compost bins are for the compost that don't go to the birds, or the worms.)

 

[NanaKat]

We let the chickens compost their manure the easy way. Beginning when the leaves are falling, we gather them into bags and begin dumping three black bags each week to the floor of the hen house. The girls crush the leaves as they dig thru the leaves for little bugs and tidbits. Any manure gets mixed in at the same time. The floor of our hen house is dirt. An added benefit is the warmth the leaf/mulch insulating layer gives in the hen house.

In the spring we shovel this garden gold into either the wheelbarrow or into feed sacks/mineral bags and cart it to the garden to be used as needed. The bags are stored in the gardenshed in the dry.

Any leaves left over are added along with straw/hay for the summer in the henhouse.

What is carted to the garden is added to some of the the other compost we make from cow manure and old hay. This is then mixed into the garden beds depending on what will be planted in the beds. Lettuce and edible roots get the cow manure compost while other veggies get the chicken/cow compost mix.
As the growing season progresses, wheat straw is used as mulch and the chicken bags are then scattered on top to sift thru the straw.

Because the leaves are already mixed with the chicken manure, it is fluffy and less acidic so it doesn't burn plants even if added directly to the beds. I simply like to reduce the burn affect by mixing with other compost.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

@savilcr @RaZ I did request such a forum (sub-forum).

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=487499

RaZ, I also posted a thread asking if there were Master Gardeners in this forum. I am very interested in having conversation with people who keep chickens and garden (masterfully) MUCH more than I am interested in having conversations with people who are primarily gardeners that incidentally keep a bird or two or three. I am interested in more sophistication with the gardening with birds from the bird keepers perspective.

I grew up in a Master Gardener's yard, and the nursery that he and a horticulturist ran from our property. We always kept birds. The emphasis was on gardening.

I have a stronger emphasis on keeping birds, and I would like to be as productive with them as possible gardening-wise.


I hope that makes sense. I was somewhat rebuffed and told to go to the gardening site, but I don't want to go there, I want to be here discussing gardening from this perspective. Maybe the line sounds fine, but it is approach and perspective that make a difference, and thus I think can bring forth new ideas or re-fine old ones.

Someone, please tell me you understand the distinction and difference I am trying to clarify in spite of my bumbled efforts.

 

[RaZ]

Quote:
I hope I can bridge the apparent gap here. In my case, I garden to preserve as much native habitat as I can. I don't really garden for vegetables although that may change some to support my new flock. My garden plots are mainly for supporting native wildlife and I do it organically without any pesticides or chemicals. So I thought chickens and ducks would be great for pest control and provide some compost material for the gardens. Plus I want the eggs.

I think your emphasis on keeping birds is great. It is certainly compatible with gardening. It makes sense to me but some of my fellow MGs don't seem to get it. They go to the store and buy stuff to make their plants grow while I'm getting it for free right here in the yard.

I think I get your distinction, I'm not sure I helped in clarifying the difference. To me it's all closely connected.

 

[RaZ]

The instructor said that you needed huge piles to generate and retain the heat. When I said that wasn't quite true, she all but called me a liar. What can you expect from city kids?

I've been gardening and composting for years, but I like to take classes and seminars to see what new ideas are developing and to see what crap some people are teaching.

 

[NanaKat]

Hot compost is really the fastest way to get "black gold".
Hubby pushes up the pile with the tractor...old hay and cow manure... and the bull turns it while he plays with it...then hubby piles it back up again.

 

[darkmatter]

I don't know what a "Master Gardener" is. I've been putting my chicken litter compost onto my garden in the spring since B.C. (Before Computers) from my sub-ground level dirt floor deep litter composting pit in the Coop.