John Silveira vs. The Chicken Moat

[joan1708]

Most of the stuff I read warns that the garden can be contaminated with things like e coli from fresh manure. You need 90 days for the manure to be safe for crops that don't touch the ground, like tomatoes and okra. you need 120 days for root crops and stuff like lettuce and spinach. I don't think tilling the soil would speed up the process that much.

You heard about the e coli outbreak in europe that was traced back to an organic farm in germany? I never heard how their fields were contaminated but I'll bet it was improperly composted manure. You can't wash it off either, it plant takes the e coli out of the ground and puts it in the plant.

I haven't found anyone who objects to chickens in an orchard. I guess fruit trees don't track the contaminants up into the fruit.

I've been a lazy composter for 20 years, but I only used rabbit manure, kitchen and garden waste (never meat) and was a flower gardener. I plan to be more careful with chicken manure since they eat meat, especially with vegetable gardening. My plan is to keep a compost pile for the poop board dropping and kitchen scraps that are not feed to the chickens. I will cover it daily with leaf litter or some other carbon. When there's enough for a formal pile, I will put it in another bin, make sure it gets to 130 degrees for 2 days at least twice (after turning the pile), and is at least 90 days old.

 

[galanie]

I'm sure the density of chickens would make a difference too. If you have a 120x120 garden and six birds on it, you'll have different experiences from those with a dozen or more on the same amount of land. Of course then the more the poo the more the worry.

 

[Dusty Chicken]

The following link is a helpful guideline for using manure in vegtable gardens:
http://umaine.edu/publications/2510e/

If you are adding uncomposted manure to your vegtable beds it also makes a difference if it is straight manure of if it has bedding mixed into it. I use pine shavings for bedding material & in the fall I would not hesitate to top dress my vegtable beds with this used bedding. I would not do this if I am actively growing crops in that area or if I was getting ready to plant within a few months.

My normal use for bedding is to compost it in my bins along with my kitchen waste. I have several compost bins near my coop & all my used bedding from the coop goes directly into the bins.

I have been a gardner for most of my life. My biggest fear is obtaining manure from sources that I don't know their management system or their animals. I am always concerned about what has been applied to a field the livestock is grazing from, worm management system, etc... Obtaining manure from my own flock is the most ideal situation, I know the birds & how they have been managed!

 

[Bernard P. Fife]

Thanks, Dusty, a lot of good info there. I use pine shavings as well that I've been applying to the area I plan on using for this year's garden. I feel the same way about knowing the source of your manure. WAY more peace of mind when it comes from your own managed flock!