Hi everyone! So, we have a garden in our front yard (we grow lots of different fruit trees, and loads of vegetables), and we were wondering how do you use chicken poop in the garden? Do you just put it in? Please tell me everything you know about this!
We age it first. I do not like the idea of fresh poo on my vegetables. After it is about a year old we till it into the soil. We have big garbage cans that the shavings and poo from the coop go into. In the late winter we prep for spring's garden. (We are in Florida so the ground is not frozen) I do not side dress with it. (Laying it on top next to the vegetables) Good luck with the garden!
I don't know about overall use in the garden (don't really have one here where I live in the high desert)...but I do use chicken poop for tomatoes. I take about a shovel full into a bucket, add water, let it sit for a few days, then I "ring" some around my tomato plants ... talk about huge tomatoes...best stuff ever for tomatoes!!
I use the old poopy coop litter as mulch in my greenhouse etc. I put in in fresh, no aging, works for me.
I use the deep litter method in my coops and only clean them out twice a year. I'm also kind of a lazy com poster and just throw everything in a pile in the spring and the fall. I just cleaned the coop last month and made a big pile that will break down enough to use in my raised beds by spring. and my spring cleaning goes in the beds in the fall. You can side dress with it but only after it has composted for a few months(great stuff). fresh chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and is not good for the plants.
I throw old litter directly into the garden this time of year when I don't have much growing. In the summer I put it in the compost pile first to age a bit before transferring to the garden. Hot manure will kill baby vegies. More established plants can handle it just fine.