Do droppings need to sit a year before they can be used as fertilizer?

[Carrie Lynn]

I am so glad people are finding this thread helpful. We're also having fun with the term "chicken flickin's"

Let's keep this thread going awhile as I suspect many more will find it useful.
Thanks everyone for your posts thus far, I'm glad I asked for info

The links are great too.

Carrie Lynn

 

[farmerlor]

I'm in the "spread in the fall and turn and use in the spring" camp. We let our chickens have the greenhouse over winter and then in the spring we till up the area and use with no problems. This soil was completely worthless for growing when we moved in here and last year's crop of tomatoes were just glorious so we're going to keep on with the methods we're using for sure.

 

[EGM]

We don't have chickens yet, but we do have fish. Any reason you wouldn't just hook up an airator stone with little pump and dump it into the giant bucket of compost tea? I'm sure it doesn't add too much dissolved oxygen, but neither would stirring it and it works for the fish and prevents you getting up all night long and spending time every hour during the day stirring the stuff.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Quote:
Royd,


Please read the comments I posted above about the problem with using stinky compost tea.

Sir, If you think I'm going to set my alarm clock for 2 am, just to stir my chicken manure tea, then, come back and jump into bed, after it's been splashed on me, well.........
I do take your point, but I'd say, stirring every hour is like baking your eggshells, to make it easier on the chickens.

You need to keep oxygen in that mix or else your aerobic (oxygen breathing) bacteria will die and anerobic (non-oxygen breathing) bacteria will take over. There will be SOME kind of bacteria breeding (aka, "brewing") in that watery mix -- it is up to you whether it is the beneficial aerobic bacteria or else the harmful anerobic bacteria that you breed.


The only important point is to keep enough oxygen in that mix to allow the aerobic bacteria to live and to continue breeding.


It doesn't matter HOW that oxygen gets into the bucket or garbage can.


You could hook a strong aquarium pump to a 5 gallon bucket, and use that to infuse oxygen into the water. The directions for doing this is somewhere on the net -- if I recall, it is on either the Pennyslvania State University website or maybe it was the Pennsylvania Extension Service website. It is on some website out of Pennsylvania, I am sure. I remember running into the directions for how to do this when I was preparing to teach last years organic gardening classes, and it seemed pretty easy and relatively inexpensive to do. Main costs was the pump and some plastic tubing, if I recall correctly.


If you did that, then you would not have to add the oxygen into the water manually at all.


You said that your mix stinks when you use it, then you equated that with fish emulsion.


Those two smells are of completely different origin.


Fish emulsion smells because, well, frankly, fish smell. Even healthy, normal fish smell. So that odor, while mildly offensive, is not indicative of a problem that might harm your garden.


But the same cannot be said of the "swampy" smell associated with stale water. That swampy smell is the smell that anerobic (non-oxygen breathing) bacteria emit, and it is a warning to you that the bacteria in that water will be more harmful than helpful to you if you insist on spraying/watering your garden with it.


Why add something to your garden (like adding harmful bacteria to the garden soil, which you will do if you add compost tea that smells "swampy,") that is going to do more harm than good?

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Quote:
YES, EGM...


This is what I am refering to.


The directions are somewhere on the net -- I think on a Pennsylvania website, if I recall correctly.


My wife and I have different enough sleep hours that we just stir the mix, but for folks who can't keep the oxygen levels high enough for survival of the aerobic bacteria, it makes all the sense in the world to attach an aquarium pump (and now that you mention it, I think the method they suggest does involve an aerator stone of some sort too) to feed oxygen into the mix - and thus, keep your aerobic bacteria alive and breeding.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

OK -- I found the website that offers directions on how to use a 5 gallon bucket with an aquarium pump to feed enough oxygen into the compost tea mix to keep the aerobic bacteria fat and sassy:


http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/tea/tea1.htm

 

[HHandbasket]

Quote:
I also am glad you posted this question and started this thread. As you said, the links are great & I have really learned alot.

And I agree..."chicken flickin's" needs to be added to the BYC glossary.

 

[Royd]

Quote:
Sir, If you think I'm going to set my alarm clock for 2 am, just to stir my chicken manure tea, then, come back and jump into bed, after it's been splashed on me, well.........
I do take your point, but I'd say, stirring every hour is like baking your eggshells, to make it easier on the chickens.

You need to keep oxygen in that mix or else your aerobic (oxygen breathing) bacteria will die and anerobic (non-oxygen breathing) bacteria will take over. There will be SOME kind of bacteria breeding (aka, "brewing") in that watery mix -- it is up to you whether it is the beneficial aerobic bacteria or else the harmful anerobic bacteria that you breed.


The only important point is to keep enough oxygen in that mix to allow the aerobic bacteria to live and to continue breeding.


It doesn't matter HOW that oxygen gets into the bucket or garbage can.


You could hook a strong aquarium pump to a 5 gallon bucket, and use that to infuse oxygen into the water. The directions for doing this is somewhere on the net -- if I recall, it is on either the Pennyslvania State University website or maybe it was the Pennsylvania Extension Service website. It is on some website out of Pennsylvania, I am sure. I remember running into the directions for how to do this when I was preparing to teach last years organic gardening classes, and it seemed pretty easy and relatively inexpensive to do. Main costs was the pump and some plastic tubing, if I recall correctly.


If you did that, then you would not have to add the oxygen into the water manually at all.


You said that your mix stinks when you use it, then you equated that with fish emulsion.


Those two smells are of completely different origin.


Fish emulsion smells because, well, frankly, fish smell. Even healthy, normal fish smell. So that odor, while mildly offensive, is not indicative of a problem that might harm your garden.


But the same cannot be said of the "swampy" smell associated with stale water. That swampy smell is the smell that anerobic (non-oxygen breathing) bacteria emit, and it is a warning to you that the bacteria in that water will be more harmful than helpful to you if you insist on spraying/watering your garden with it.


Why add something to your garden (like adding harmful bacteria to the garden soil, which you will do if you add compost tea that smells "swampy,") that is going to do more harm than good?

I already said, "Point taken" and have been thinking about how to areate it...The aquarium pump would be a good idea. I could just hook it to my light timer, for about 2 hours, each evening.
I'll be studying on it. In the meantime, I'll be stirring, vigorously, once a day. Thanks.

 

[galanie]

This is so strange. Today is the first day I've seen this thread yet 2 days ago I decided to do just that. I put some chickin flickin's in a 5 gallon bucket and filled it with water. It is sitting where I walk back and forth by the garden and I've been giving it a good stir 4-5 times a day as I pass by it. Must have been vibes, cause I didn't know if I was doing it right or not.

 

[galanie]

oops double post.