Chicken poop for garden?

[nhchickmom]

Hi All,

How are other's mixing in chicken poop to their garden bed for fertilizer. Are you simply shoveling in shavings and all? What works for you?

Thank you

 

[ChickBond 007]

I saved the brooder shavings in well-sealed garbage bags, and tilled them into my new garden. The pine shavings are excellent to break up over-packed dirt/clay and make a good base for the garden. And the nitrogen in the poo is also a big plus in the garden.
I've been told that a little goes a long way when it comes to chicken poo as fertilizer. We decided to till in the shavings and wait one week for the sun and rain to disperse the nitrogen and also to run the tiller down every other day to keep mixing for that week.

I planted 858 sq feet of garden yesterday. 4 large boxed areas for perennials such as strawberry/asparagus/herbs, and a box just for tomatoes/peppers. I have 12 x 16 in cucumbers/squash/pumpkin/watermelon, and the remainder is row crop.
Everything but sweet corn... it's too cheap to grow it around here, so I just buy it.

 

[The Poultry Peanut]

Hi, what ever you have will be great!! shavings and poop or just poop your garden will love it!

 

[ChickBond 007]

I wanted to mention, I also till in straw to help hold moisture. I have a pile of the winter's bedding straw (a bit of poo there too) and usually break out 1-2 small bales of stored straw (consider that my garden is very very large), and my neighbor supplies horse poo (much lower concentrate than chicken poo). This will also help the plants as will any organic material.

 

[nhchickmom]

Wow! Thank you all so much. This is what I had thought. I plan to hand till in some of the bedding mixture today ( yes, I am old school and do it all by hand, my back is asking me WHY?) and then planting this weekend. Do you all think that 5-6 days of letting the nitrogen "cool" will be enough? Thanks for your knowledge.

 

[ChickBond 007]

I think 5-6 days is perfect, especially if you get a good rain. If you don't get rain, then I'd use the sprinkler one day and try to get about 3/4" on there mid-week and let it soak in good. The sun and water will help a great deal.

Oh, and about your back... buy it a tiller, honey. It's the only one you've got!

 

[nhchickmom]

Quote:
Thank you! Your garden sounds amazing and is quite inspiring. It sure makes you feel good to eat your own home grown food.

 

[ChickBond 007]

Well, I have a busy job, and my garden/chicken time is my "me" time. I love to get a little muddy and see the fruits of my labor, can some tomatoes/pickles/jelly or whatever. It is very rewarding. I'm also making a real effort to save some money this year and make my farm more self-sufficient. It's a work in process.
I wish you a garden full of food, post some pictures when you get it planted.

 

[Backyard Hencam]

I have two compost bins where I put all garden clippings, coffee grounds (from the local coffee shop) and kitchen scraps. Adding the pine shavings with poop has helped the compost pile become more balanced (not too acid, not too sweet). It should take about 4 mos. to break down into the finest compost available.

I also have two worm bins for compost worms. They are lovin' the mixture. Yummmmmm!

Good luck from a California gardener!

 

[nhchickmom]

Quote:
The same is true here! We are really trying to produce the bulk of our own food this year. With groceries being sky high and all this weird factory farming this seems the way to go. We just purchased a freezer and plan to freeze a lot of our veggies and meat. We are going to try and eat what is in season............I predict a lot of squash coming during our long winters here in NH. Good thing we like it. Any good recipes for squash.