Confused about the poop thing

[missmychicks]

When we get the coop going we are planning on using the deep litter method. SO how does this work with the garden? Put the deep litter in our compost tumbler? Does it need to sit after it's done ? Straight on garden without composting? I'm getting confused...
TYIA!

 

[nuthatched]

It need to be composted, it's strong stuff and will burn plants directly.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

You can dig out any finished compost (sifting if you prefer) and apply to your garden in the fall to give it time to age before spring.

If the coop isn't built yet, another option is to have the garden and the run next to each other, with the coop in between. Deep litter in the run until fall, then swap the garden and the run. The compost in the run can age and be ready for you to plant into come spring, and the chickens can clean up your garden and eat any weed seeds and pests before it'll be planted again.

 

[Sally PB]

I dug out several buckets and totes full of chicken run litter this last fall and put it on my garden to sit over the winter.

I'll dig out as much or more in the spring and add it to my compost pile. See the following link for how to be able to use chicken poop compost in under a month. Caveat: not sure if it'll work in a tumbler, and it is more work, because you have to turn it a lot.

https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2010/05/08/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

 

[missmychicks]

You can dig out any finished compost (sifting if you prefer) and apply to your garden in the fall to give it time to age before spring.

If the coop isn't built yet, another option is to have the garden and the run next to each other, with the coop in between. Deep litter in the run until fall, then swap the garden and the run. The compost in the run can age and be ready for you to plant into come spring, and the chickens can clean up your garden and eat any weed seeds and pests before it'll be planted again.

Thank you!

 

[missmychicks]

I dug out several buckets and totes full of chicken run litter this last fall and put it on my garden to sit over the winter.

I'll dig out as much or more in the spring and add it to my compost pile. See the following link for how to be able to use chicken poop compost in under a month. Caveat: not sure if it'll work in a tumbler, and it is more work, because you have to turn it a lot.

https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2010/05/08/hot-compost-composting-in-18-days/

Thank you!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I probably make more work for myself than needed, but I collect poop and toss it in my compost bin along with everything else I'm composting (dried leaves, garden trimmings, coffee grounds, etc) - I'm lazy so I turn it once in a while and by the next year, I have compost. I also collect broken down deep litter from the run and sift it (wood chips make up the bulk of my run material, so I don't want that all in the garden). I top dress my beds with a combination of the aged compost and sifted litter.

 

[Magnumchicken]

Farmers would say that the freshest manure is best. They apply fresh manure and till it in immediately so the nitrogen doesn't gas off as fast.

The biggest concern is the amount of salt. Chicken manure has 100 to 200 lbs of salt per ton, and the recommendation is no more than 500 lbs of salt per acre per year if you get 25 inches of rain in medium soil. You can add more if you have light soil and more rain. So if you get 25 inches of rain each year, you can apply approximately 4 tons per acre, or 1 lb per 5 square feet. Assume double that if you get double the rain.

Nitrogen burns leaves mostly, so apply directly to soil. It is the salt that kills through the roots.

As far as health concerns with fresh manure, you are already handling eggs with chicken poop on them. Of course you don't want globs of poop on your food, but as long as the manure is worked in the soil a few months before you eat a root crop, you can use fresh directly in the garden. That is the best way to keep the nitrogen from gassing off.

 

[Grannys Backyard Chicks]

Any words of wisdom about rabbit poop on my garden beds ?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

My rule of thumb is that fall through winter I put it directly in garden. Starting late winter/early spring, it goes in compost bin OR under shrubs, trees and perennials but about a foot away from the plant in a circle, not dig into soil (idea is that poo's will leach into soil as it rains and bedding acts as mulch.