Chicken poop as fertilizer

[pattee]

Quote:

WOW! Thanks!!!

 

[Tony]

I had an uncle who would put the manure in several 5 gallon buckets with water, about half/half mix. He`d let it "ferment" for about a week, then pour the watery slop,goo (whatever it`s called at that point) lol. And use it to water the plants. His garden was incredible. hope this helps.

 

[adeledamate]

I've just read through this thread and thought I'd show you how I use my chicken manure in my garden. I have two composting barrels. One is always cooking. It usually takes about 4 months to complete composting, although the pine shavings are still slightly visible. The other one I add to daily. Whether it be yard waste, kitchen scraps or chicken poop with pine shavings. I added it to my tomato (raised beds/boxes) and the photos show the results. The plants are now 9 feet tall. They are loaded with tomatoes and no sign of burning from too much chicken manure. I guess it all depends on what kind of soil you have to start with and how much actual manure you add. I'd really hate to throw away all of the manure when I clean out the cages.
I'm definitely going to try the tea.

 

[niallliam]

I have a compost bin and typically when collecting the manure daily from my 3 laying pullets on a sand based house and run add it to the pile. This morning i thought that it might be an idea to use today's collection directly on the plants. Obviously i didn't want to just set it on them as it would stink and burn. So i just added about 8 litres of water to it in a bucket and empied the water into the various beds and shrubbery. Someone else referred to this as "compost tea". Seemed like a good use but i have no idea if it will have any negative or positive effect as this was fresh poo watered down. The poo remained at the bottom of the bucket so i just threw it into the compost bin. WIll keep you posted with results!

 

[Royd]

I've been composting, since the late '70's.... Mother Earth News, Organic Gardening, and all that jazz.

The recipe is 2-3 parts brown, to 1 part green. Of course, chicken manure, being high in Nitrogen, it may take less. This is my first year, with chickens.

Mix your brown material, manure and plenty of water. It is the catalyst.

In about three weeks, that pile should, literally, be cooking, at about 140 degrees.
What fun, to bust open a pile on a cold winter's day, and watch it steam.

When the heat is gone, the pile is done.

My plan, since my chickens free range, during the day, is to save the manure, and make a slurry, to apply to the compost pile, for better distribution.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm composting mine in a trench, with wasted hay as the carbon. The chickens scratch this out and turn it for me and I just rake it back in. By next spring, it should be good and ready for the garden. If it's not, I will make some manure tea out of it and use it this way.

 

[morninggirls]

Hello,

I am new to the world of chickens (I inherited my 5 from a friend who went to a retirement community).

I had no idea what I was missing my whole life (being a city girl!) We are having so much fun and I am surprised and delighted with how much we all just adore our girls!

Question:

I had heard that the poop was so good for my garden, and I have put some directly on the plants, I see that maybe I should compost it a while. My girls get to run free in a part of the yard during that day that has my compost. They love it so much and dig and make a big mess for me to clean up and get it ready for them to massacre it again tomorrow! But, if I put the droppings in there, is that bad for them since they poke around and eat from the compost?

Please advise,

Thank you!

 

[ParadiseHens]

Any experience mixing the poop with straw? Mine is mixed because I bed with straw. I'm adding my poop and straw into a compost bin and turning it until it turns. To dirt.
Things break down quickly in Hawaii. I'm still playing with the timing to use it directly in the garden. I'm mixing rabbit poop in too.

I love reading about others strategies.
Mahalo,
PH

 

[ParadiseHens]

I did not realize I needed to get it wet?

http://idiotsguides.com/static/quickguides/homegarden/compost-your-guide-to-making-black-gold.html

 

[RiveraPetSupply]

I have been wondering the same thing. I use pine shavings too. Last fall when I cleaned the coop "deep litter" I just spread it around on the ground. It over-wintered. Now I want to till it all under. We have clay soil and I thought the pine shavings would help break up the clay. But, now it sounds like the best use would be to use it as mulch. The problem I have is that I live in a Village what requires the feces be disposed of weekly. I also would like to know about selling the chicken fertilizer. Any other suggestions on how to separate the feces from the pine shavings?