How do you collect manure?

[tracylhl]

I let my chickens free range. They have a run and a coup that they sleep in, lay in, etc but most of the day they're free ranging. So if I were interested in collecting manure, they only thing I can think of is to keep them in wire cages where the droppings would fall below. I don't want manure badly enough to keep them from free-ranging. So, is there any way to do it that I'm not considering or is it kind of an either/or type thing?

That said, the coup/run is basically a tractor and I move it periodically to fertilize where next season's garden will be. Is that my best bet for now? I was hoping for a way of collecting it for my other gardens.

 

[TXmom]

I think a lot of people put a board under their roost. When the chickens roost at night, they'll poop on the board, then you can collect it every few days. I can't think of a better way than that... I use the deep litter method, so I have lots and lots of shavings in my coop and nest boxes. When it starts getting too dirty, I put the old shavings in my compost pile and add new shavings.

 

[tracylhl]

Oh, the board is a great idea! I have been doing the litter thing like you. Didn't know it had a name but I use hay in the roosting area and then rake up the yucky stuff regularly. I've been throwing it directly into the garden because there is more hay than manure so I figured it wouldn't be overly strong. Is that wrong? Should I try shavings instead? I suppose that would be easier to get less extra bedding mixed in.

 

[wombat]

You'd be better off composting the manure first before putting it on your garden.

We use pine shavings in our coop, and collect more than enough chicken manure from under the roosts. We put shavings+ manure into a barrel composter with lawn clippings. The compost goes into the garden when it isn't growing season.

 

[cimarron]

yup i'm with wombat, i believe that straight chicken poop is too "hot" (high nitrogen content?) to put right onto plants and needs a few weeks to break down in a compost pile. in fact i have a wheelbarrow full of dirty hay from the last change-out waiting to get worked into the soil for my september garden...what am i doing on the computer, i'm gonna go get busy! : )

 

[tracylhl]

Okay, then from now on, into the compost bin with it! Thanks! I guess when I run through this hay bale, I'll try shavings too. Is there a better way to get them than buying them in the big bags (assuming my DH isn't doing enough woodworking to supply them)?

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I only have four chickens so not a lot of manure.

I actually collect the coop droppings by hand in the morning after they go out of the coop - since I have to clean up their sleeping area anyway, I just pick through it and collect the "poo clumps". I live in fear that someone will walk in and see me doing it and commit me to the Crazy Chicken Lady Mental Institution...

I was putting it directly on plants but also was advised that it's too "hot", although I'm a bit perplexed since if the chickens were free-ranging they would be depositing it that way, right?

Anyway, I've started tossing it in a pile to "marinate" now.

 

[wombat]

Our pet stores sell bales of shavings for lots of $$$, but the feed mill sells compressed bales that have about 4x as much in the same size bale for about half the cost. We're in "horse country", so the feed mills have big compressed bales of pine shavings for the horsie set. Find a feed mill ... don't pay pet store prices for shavings.

Straw works great too, from a composting perspective (it breaks down faster than pine), but it is not as good a choice for coops, at least in some seasons, because it tends to get wet/soggy/smelly far faster than pine shavings. As much as I like lots of compost, I clean the coop far less often using pine shavings, and it doesn't smell funky when the weather turns damp.

A compost pile works well if you are good about layering in brown/green and turning it, but a barrel composter is easy and takes a lot of the work out of it.

Have fun ... we compost (I think my wife wanted chickens more for manure than for eggs

) and our tomato plants are to the top of the 8' 2x2 stakes ...

 

[loverOFchickens]

Another a note on it being too "hot".

I have found that my manure/straw mixture works better if it has been exposed to the weather some. Of course this is the same idea as the compost bin but I have found that it works better. It is GREAT if it is left in the garden for the majority of the winter and then the soil is turned over. It has decomposed more and mixes with the soil easily.

One last note the bedding from nest can be thrown in with the rest so long as they are nesting on hay (or straw) and not wood chips.

Good Luck!!

 

[jjdesch]

Quote:
Well, I do the same thing every few days, so maybe I should be committed too! My smallish 3 X 5 coop is raised with a plywood floor covered with linoleum. i don't keep a thick layer of pine shavings - maybe one or two inches, and collect the droppings wearing latex gloves every other day or so. After I thin out the poop I toss in a few handfuls of fresh shavings and maybe a light dusting of DE . The 8 by 8 run has sand and is raked every few days as well, but my three RIR's and three BO's always seem to have dirty feet regardless. I will probably go with a thicker layer of shavings during the winter. My chooks are only 12 weeks old and have been a lot of fun so far!