Chicken Poop

[Lauren Kim]

So, I’ve done some research and apparently, chicken poop is one of the best fertilizers in the world! How can I make my chicken poop into fertilizer?

 

[lazy gardener]

Compost it. Either in the coop/run with DLM, or remove it from the coop and compost it in a compost bin/pile. If you use shavings in your coop, that will limit your success b/c it takes a very long time for shavings to break down.

This is one of the primary reasons I have chickens.

 

[Lauren Kim]

Compost it. Either in the coop/run with DLM, or remove it from the coop and compost it in a compost bin/pile. If you use shavings in your coop, that will limit your success b/c it takes a very long time for shavings to break down.

This is one of the primary reasons I have chickens.

I don’t use shavings. Where and how should I compost it?

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you using DLM in your coop? What are you using for bedding?

 

[Lauren Kim]

Are you using DLM in your coop? What are you using for bedding?

What is DLM?

 

[lazy gardener]

Deep litter method. Typically a combination of materials: dry leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, hay, AGED wood chips, etc. It is layered into the coop and allowed to build up and compost in place along with the poo nuggets the chickens add and scratch into the mix.

 

[XanderWiFi]

I was just reading up on this as well and you are correct. Chicken poop is some of the best fertilizer available but has a super high nitrogen contact that will kill plants alone. It requires a 30:1 ratio of carbon (leaves, organic matter) to nitrogen.

I use pine shavings in our coop with a deep litter method. Lately, along with turning the litter I have been scooping the sleep-poop area and putting it in the compost pile I keep in the corner of their run (we put all our scraps there for them to eat etc.).

For the carbon I have started taking another great fertilizer resource: leaves and raking them into the run for them to poop and dig in. When I start seeing the leaves break down and get flattened I will rake all those, with all the poop, into the compost pile inside the run.

The compost pile does not stay a "pile" for long as the girls love to dig it up and turn it for me. This mixes it all together for me while they seek out bugs and treats below. I am hoping I will have some pay dirt for this spring.

 

[17 chickens]

When using Chicken poop for the yard and garden you have two choices to use the
The first is to let it sit for a year before you use it cause it will burn your plants and veggies.
The second way to use it is making chicken poop tea. This is how I use it in my flower beds and in my gardens.
You can do this in buckets or a big barrel or a tub, I use a water spout barrel the ones you can buy at a hardware store with a hose spout at the bottom of the side.
I get big burlap bags from a garden center and fill it 1/2 full of poop then hang it it the bucket from a board or pipe laid over the top of the barrel so the bag hags it it and fill the barrel up with water. Let it steep just like you would making tea with a tea bag. I let mine sit for a few day then hook my hose up and water away.
This way it is not a hot fertilizer and wont kill your plants.
Just keep repeating every week and your good!

 

[XanderWiFi]

Ooo I like that idea. Have to find some materials first. They do worm farms kind of like that too right?

 

[17 chickens]

Ooo I like that idea. Have to find some materials first. They do worm farms kind of like that too right?

I don't know about worms besides they are gone the second a chicken see's it!
I know my Grandmother and my mom used to do this method and that's how I was taught.
Chicken poop is a hot fertilizer but it is the best!