Chicken poop in the Garden

[TropicalBabies]

I got to chime in on this one. If the only thing you are composting is chicken poop it may take some time till it is (composted, cooled and) usable. It will smell more, attract flies, be sticky...
All compost takes time for various reasons. Horse poop.... on the other hand is a almost perfect compost as is. It can and has been used immediately in many a good garden... I personally do not unless it is something like trees or grass. There is a carbon/nitrogen ratio that is optimum and all serious composters strive for it. If you add leaves, horse poop, garden waste, kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy or oils) to your chicken poop you will speed up the process and give yourself a beautiful finished -less stinky- product. Then there is a moisture/air ratio. I have found compost tumblers to be worth their price and available from Costco to Craigslist. Or you can make one out of a barrel if you are clever and patient. I have a double from Costco (plus 7 bins at the pasture)cuz I compost a lot... A tumbler will speed everything up considerably because it adds the needed air and distributes the moisture as you turn. I have made BEAUTIFUL compost in as little as 2-3 weeks but I am also in a warm climate. The horse poop attracts a certain mold spore that is incredible for the composting process so I always add that to what I have cooking. When you see a white spore, you know you are doing well. I also just put my tumbler into my chicken run because the chickens love to eat the bugs that wander around a compost. I can pick up poop from the run and put it right in, when it is finished they can do their digging and get the grubs out. Then it is perfectly ready for my garden. Now... to keep the chickens out of my garden is a whoooole nuther story.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Where do you keep your compost? Our biggest struggle in creating a compost is stirring. Any suggestions?

Also, I see you're in northern CO, so what do you do about it in the winter time? Does it freeze? We've been seriously looking in to a compost pile/bin/container but haven't been able to find a suitable option for us. Hopefully @meglynnie can find a good option too!

I did have a 3 bin system in the side yard. It was a pain to access. I dismantled it last fall.
I am redoing my garden layout this spring. (Well underway already)
I plan to set up a new 3 bin system in the South part of the garden.
One bin is fresh materials, one is second year and one ready to use.
For me on my small lot it is difficult to get enough green material.
I only turn my compost when I add green material like yard clippings.

Yes it freezes in winter. A dark tarp on top helps a lot in keeping it from solid freezing.

 

[TropicalBabies]

My neighbour Jack used some of my chicken poop for fertilizer, he planted some beans and ended up with this big bean stalk that went right up in to the clouds, I think you may have heard the story.

Seriously it is great fertilizer, I read not long ago of a guy where his neighbours were glad of it, they come round with buckets to take it away.

Ha ha ha!!! That is funny!!!

 

[wleigh1021]

I don't get scientific about it at all and so far it has worked out for me. I have a small patch of woods behind my house which is where my coop is. I pick a spot for a year and every time I clean out the coop or poop board I shovel it out onto a tarp, drag to my spot on the woods and dump it. Let it pile up, then next spring shovel it into a wheel borrow and add it to the garden. Since I use a poop board I don't have a lot of chips in the mix. I also use first Saturday lime to keep down the smell and flies in the coop so that helps break down the mixture a little faster. I start a new pile every spring so it changes with the cycle of my garden. I have 2 piles at all times-the pile that is completed and composting/aging and the fresh pile that I am adding to. If you don't have woods then I would think a small patch of yard with a compost box would do just fine.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I did have a 3 bin system in the side yard. It was a pain to access. I dismantled it last fall.
I am redoing my garden layout this spring. (Well underway already)
I plan to set up a new 3 bin system in the South part of the garden.
One bin is fresh materials, one is second year and one ready to use.
For me on my small lot it is difficult to get enough green material.
I only turn my compost when I add green material like yard clippings.

Yes it freezes in winter. A dark tarp on top helps a lot in keeping it from solid freezing.

You may want to give the tumblers a look-see. I add everything till it is (for me) 3/4 full, then lock up and start filling the other 55 gal barrel. If I stick to chicken poop, kitchen scraps, some yard, some horse, it can take me 4 weeks to fill and by then the full bin that I had locked and been turning (1/2 turn every other day or so) is finished. I just keep going back and fourth. I have had these for over 2.5 years and not a problem. Would like to get another set -tee hee- because it works so well and I could do more composting at home. This is an ugly example of kitchen scraps. Peels, shells, papers, grounds... etc, etc. It is the added moisture i need for the bins. Usually dont have to add water myself. With recycling i end up with pretty much noting for the landfill. That is good for my small island.

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

My neighbour Jack used some of my chicken poop for fertilizer, he planted some beans and ended up with this big bean stalk that went right up in to the clouds, I think you may have heard the story.

I guess I don't know Jack.

 

[meglynnie]

I got to chime in on this one. If the only thing you are composting is chicken poop it may take some time till it is (composted, cooled and) usable. It will smell more, attract flies, be sticky...
All compost takes time for various reasons. Horse poop.... on the other hand is a almost perfect compost as is. It can and has been used immediately in many a good garden... I personally do not unless it is something like trees or grass. There is a carbon/nitrogen ratio that is optimum and all serious composters strive for it. If you add leaves, horse poop, garden waste, kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy or oils) to your chicken poop you will speed up the process and give yourself a beautiful finished -less stinky- product. Then there is a moisture/air ratio. I have found compost tumblers to be worth their price and available from Costco to Craigslist. Or you can make one out of a barrel if you are clever and patient. I have a double from Costco (plus 7 bins at the pasture)cuz I compost a lot... A tumbler will speed everything up considerably because it adds the needed air and distributes the moisture as you turn. I have made BEAUTIFUL compost in as little as 2-3 weeks but I am also in a warm climate. The horse poop attracts a certain mold spore that is incredible for the composting process so I always add that to what I have cooking. When you see a white spore, you know you are doing well. I also just put my tumbler into my chicken run because the chickens love to eat the bugs that wander around a compost. I can pick up poop from the run and put it right in, when it is finished they can do their digging and get the grubs out. View attachment 1716369 View attachment 1716370 View attachment 1716375 View attachment 1716371 Then it is perfectly ready for my garden. Now... to keep the chickens out of my garden is a whoooole nuther story.

This is fantastic information! I have horses as well so it’s awesome to read to mix the horse and chicken poo together with other things to make fertilizer

 

[TropicalBabies]

I guess I don't know Jack.

 

[TheAmundsons]

I got to chime in on this one. If the only thing you are composting is chicken poop it may take some time till it is (composted, cooled and) usable. It will smell more, attract flies, be sticky...
All compost takes time for various reasons. Horse poop.... on the other hand is a almost perfect compost as is. It can and has been used immediately in many a good garden... I personally do not unless it is something like trees or grass. There is a carbon/nitrogen ratio that is optimum and all serious composters strive for it. If you add leaves, horse poop, garden waste, kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy or oils) to your chicken poop you will speed up the process and give yourself a beautiful finished -less stinky- product. Then there is a moisture/air ratio. I have found compost tumblers to be worth their price and available from Costco to Craigslist. Or you can make one out of a barrel if you are clever and patient. I have a double from Costco (plus 7 bins at the pasture)cuz I compost a lot... A tumbler will speed everything up considerably because it adds the needed air and distributes the moisture as you turn. I have made BEAUTIFUL compost in as little as 2-3 weeks but I am also in a warm climate. The horse poop attracts a certain mold spore that is incredible for the composting process so I always add that to what I have cooking. When you see a white spore, you know you are doing well. I also just put my tumbler into my chicken run because the chickens love to eat the bugs that wander around a compost. I can pick up poop from the run and put it right in, when it is finished they can do their digging and get the grubs out. View attachment 1716369 View attachment 1716370 View attachment 1716375 View attachment 1716371 Then it is perfectly ready for my garden. Now... to keep the chickens out of my garden is a whoooole nuther story.

Yes! That is exactly what I've been looking for! We don't have Costco near us...I will have to see what I can find/make. What is the white bin under the one barrel for? I'm amazed that it just takes you a few weeks to have it all composted! Hopefully it works that way for us! Right now our coop litter goes into the run for the chickens to spread around and eventually decomposes/blows away. I was thinking it mostly blew away until a few weeks ago when we got massive flooding and the only thing that wasn't underwater was the coop and run! I didn't realize it had gotten build up so much!

 

[TheAmundsons]

I don't get scientific about it at all and so far it has worked out for me. I have a small patch of woods behind my house which is where my coop is. I pick a spot for a year and every time I clean out the coop or poop board I shovel it out onto a tarp, drag to my spot on the woods and dump it. Let it pile up, then next spring shovel it into a wheel borrow and add it to the garden. Since I use a poop board I don't have a lot of chips in the mix. I also use first Saturday lime to keep down the smell and flies in the coop so that helps break down the mixture a little faster. I start a new pile every spring so it changes with the cycle of my garden. I have 2 piles at all times-the pile that is completed and composting/aging and the fresh pile that I am adding to. If you don't have woods then I would think a small patch of yard with a compost box would do just fine.

You don't have any issue with not stirring it? I always heard that was the most important component of composting. I've never composted so I don't know though! It just turns from a pile of poo/scraps into a pile of dirt? I would love to have something so simple and low maintenance!