chicken poop fertilizer

[birdface]

Not sure if this goes here. But,


When i clean out my coop i am throwing my bird poop in with my compost pile. Iwas thinking of keeping a seperate one and just putting the poo into it. I was just wondering if anyone else has done this

 

[Honeysucklefeathers]

I don't separate mine. It actually breaks down faster and doesn't smell so much when mixed. It is fantastic fertilizer! Just curious, why would you want to separate it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have not. It goes in my regular compost. I figure that the compost is richer if it has a variety of components, so there is a wider variety of nutrients.

Pure chicken poop is a green since it is high in nitrogen. But usually it is mixed with so much bedding, straw or shavings, that the net result is that it is a brown, high in carbon. Either one usually fits in well with a regular compost pile.

 

[openheartnp]

How long does it take for it to break down, especially with the shavings? I'm going to start composting, now that i have poop LOL!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It depends on several things, your mix of greens and browns, whether or not you turn it, how warm you weather is, and whether it dries out or if you keep it damp. Under ideal conditions you can get compost in less than a month, but I count on several months. Maybe two batches a year. I never get the green to brown ratio that close and I don't turn it enough.

 

[CC1892]

I agree with many of the points in this thread.
When I clean out the coop I dump the contents over a compose pile of just vegetable matter from the kitchen, and garden.
I started with straw in the coop then switched to pine shavings (cleaner, and drys quickly), both types of bedding are turned in with a manure fork. This pile got pretty big, so now it sits, until I can add leaves in the Fall, and turn it again.
Next to it I started a second pile in the same way. I cover every addition of scraps with a little of from the first pile, or
bedding from the coop If I happen to have it at the time. The key is to turn it every now and then,
and make sure it gets enough water to help it along.
I also hung a "Rescue" fly trap (bought it from Lowe's) close by on a tree-I think it helps to keep the area clean as possible.

I keep another fly trap hung by the coop as well.

 

[lindseythefork]

Don't separate! Adding the chicken poop to the compost pile helps it break down efficiently. I have a friend who can't compost to save her life whereas I have awesome composting abilities- due entirely to the addition of chicken poo, I suspect. Make sure you have a good balance of wet and dry- vegetable scraps plus things like shredded paper/wood shavings. I really like putting the poopy wood shavings from my coop into the compost because it provides an excellent base of dry and then the high-nitrate levels in the poop breaks everything down quicker.

 

[galanie]

The moisture of the pile is important. If it's dry, it'll never rot properly. If it's too wet, you'll have really really smelly gunk. Should be about the moisture content overall as a squeezed out sponge. And just running the hose over the top won't do that if it's dry stuff to begin with. What that does is make one wet spot and the rest is dry. Gotta hose it down as you pile it, at the least. Me, I'm crazy enough to mix and hose and mix and THEN pile on the leaves and dry stuff.

 

[birdface]

The only reason i was thinking about seperating is because i use sand in my coop and when i clean it out i usally get a good bit of sand scooped up with the poo. I use a kitty litter scooper but still get some sand in there and didnt know if dumping the sand into my compost would slow it down or do anything else too it. im not the best composter since i forget to turn it for a awhile and it seems to be breaking down really slow. i was thinking if i just kept a bin of poop i could use that once spring rolled around...but im not sure if that would stink or not.