Chicken poop for your garden

[lazy gardener]

LG, I had some leftover 1/2" hardware cloth and 2x4's from my building projects. I cut the boards so that they would sit on my wheelbarrow and screwed the cloth to the short sides. This gave me a rim to help hold in the compost as I sift it through the wire. It works great for me. I'll get you a pic of just the screen this evening when I get home from work.

My main question is if the 1/2" mesh would provide adequate screening? (size wise) My plan is to make a framed screen with 2 legs so it can be set at an angle with a tarp under it. I can then toss shovel fulls of DL at it, and then haul the tarp of screened mulch away, or I can set the screen frame directly over my WB.

 

[Sequel]

My main question is if the 1/2" mesh would provide adequate screening? (size wise) My plan is to make a framed screen with 2 legs so it can be set at an angle with a tarp under it. I can then toss shovel fulls of DL at it, and then haul the tarp of screened mulch away, or I can set the screen frame directly over my WB.

@lazy gardener Yes 1/2" hardware cloth is very adequate screening. I have one my dad made using an old military bed frame, and I just put in on my wheelbarrow because the lumps need to be rubbed or squished through, things like hollow stems that have rotted but still holding shape, egg shells that have been crushed but the membrane still holds the pieces together...Once it's through the hardware cloth it's the most beautiful stuff!!! Shoveling litter might work fine to sift out sticks and rocks, but if it's a little sticky or lumpy it'll just roll down on the wrong side of the screen. It could be I'm just a couple decades past throwing anything with a shovel though! Haha!

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks.

 

[dustrag73]

Yup, in the fall I spread chicken droppings all over the surface of my garden. I designed my coop so that it opens right into the garden. In the winter I scoop poop into a bucket (I have sand and use a large kitty litter scoop) and deposit that daily into my compost pile, which is also connected to my garden.

By spring here in Michigan, I till in the poop, mix in the compost pile and till that in, and my plants love it.

 

[Sequel]

Yup, in the fall I spread chicken droppings all over the surface of my garden. I designed my coop so that it opens right into the garden. In the winter I scoop poop into a bucket (I have sand and use a large kitty litter scoop) and deposit that daily into my compost pile, which is also connected to my garden.

By spring here in Michigan, I till in the poop, mix in the compost pile and till that in, and my plants love it.

That sounds like a great set-up! I hope you will post pics during the gardening season!

Cathy

 

[henless]

My main question is if the 1/2" mesh would provide adequate screening? (size wise) My plan is to make a framed screen with 2 legs so it can be set at an angle with a tarp under it. I can then toss shovel fulls of DL at it, and then haul the tarp of screened mulch away, or I can set the screen frame directly over my WB.

My 1/2" mesh screen works just fine for me. I do have to rub the compost around on the screen to press it through.

 

[lazy gardener]

Then, 1/2" screen it will be. Thanks all for responding.

 

[junkman56]

I have a question for you experienced compost gardeners,

I remove my poops from the hammock every morning and put it in a bucket and take it to the compost bin.

do you put it in the bin that has other compost in it? or do you have a bin just for chicken poo?

also do you lime the poops so it does not smell so bad out in the garden while composting over the summer?

I am a new chicken compost user.

 

[lazy gardener]

Simply toss it into the compost pile you are making. Many people have a pile they are building, as well as a second pile they have completed, and they let that sit to "finish". Compost is finished when you can no longer identify most if not all of the original ingredients. It will have a nice earthy smell.

Your chicken poo is considered a high nitrogen, or green addition to the pile. It needs to be layered along with brown or high carbon materials such as shredded leaves, hay, straw, fibrous garden debris. If you continue layering, your pile will not smell bad at all. It needs to be kept moist, like a wrung out sponge to give the microbes a good working environment. You can also toss in an occasional shovel full of garden soil to introduce more beneficial organisms, or rely on the soil clinging to the roots of any garden debris you add. If it gets too high in nitrogen, or too wet, it may go anaerobic and start to smell like an open septic tank. If that happens, introduce more air and carbon, and dry it out a bit.

 

[junkman56]

Simply toss it into the compost pile you are making. Many people have a pile they are building, as well as a second pile they have completed, and they let that sit to "finish". Compost is finished when you can no longer identify most if not all of the original ingredients. It will have a nice earthy smell.

Your chicken poo is considered a high nitrogen, or green addition to the pile. It needs to be layered along with brown or high carbon materials such as shredded leaves, hay, straw, fibrous garden debris. If you continue layering, your pile will not smell bad at all. It needs to be kept moist, like a wrung out sponge to give the microbes a good working environment. You can also toss in an occasional shovel full of garden soil to introduce more beneficial organisms, or rely on the soil clinging to the roots of any garden debris you add. If it gets too high in nitrogen, or too wet, it may go anaerobic and start to smell like an open septic tank. If that happens, introduce more air and carbon, and dry it out a bit.

I have a finished compost pile, and I have a pile I started from last falls garden waste in my garden area. I been dumping all the poo and pine shavings in a pile out at the end of our yard. and that's all that is in that pile,