Manure question

[Titus2Woman]

So, I want chickens. I have been reading, reading, reading. Drawing up plans, naming chickens I don't even have yet and getting very excited. Then my husband is reading about people dying from e coli laced beef etc. He does some research and finds that you can have issues if you don't properly compost the chicken manure. So, I go online to find out for myself about composting chicken manure etc. I read tons about salmonella and issues with root veggies... that makes me a little nervous. Then I read the amounts of how much manure each hen produces and well that is WAY more than I need for my city lot.

So I started to research other means of getting rid of the manure and the only other thing that they say is burn it. Well, I am pretty sure that burning it will not only get me in trouble with the city but also make it so that I can no longer have chickens as the ordinances will be changed very quickly! So, is there anything else I can do??? My indoor birds I just throw theirs in the trash... can we do that with chicken manure and let it compost the land fill? I don't know what to do but this could threaten my whole plans of getting chickens... that and the cdc saying that if you have children under 5 in the home you should not have them for fear that the child will put their hands in their mouth after touching something the coop..

 

[so lucky]

So the CDC says people with kids under 5 shouldn't have chickens? Good Grief. How did our ancesters keep from going extinct? Just learn how to compost and go for it. I bet you have a friend or neighbor who would love some natural fertilizer for their flowers or vegetable gardens, if you find you have more than you need.

 

[peepblessed]

I am 65 and my children and grandchildren have been around chicken manure and handled chickens all our lives without any precautions. Composted chicken manure makes wonderful plant food. We use chickens in the vege garden to eat the bugs.

 

[gale65]

I am in the minority on this board. I have no plans to compost the chicken poop or use it in my veggie garden. I know people think I'm nuts but I'm simply not comfortable with it and it's not worth the anxiety to me to use it (I have diagnosed anxiety and serious germophobia). Luckily for us, though, dh is a farmer so he can just put the shavings in his manure spreader and put it on the farm fields when he cleans out the cattle barn. I think in your case, if you can't find someone local who would like to have it, and you don't want to use it yourself, throwing it out is the only option.

As for kids-mine are all older so I don't worry so much, but you don't have to have the chickens in your house (just in case you didn't know that). And you can just supervise your kids to make sure they wash up before eating or putting anything in their mouth. I also keep some hand sanitizer right outside the coop.

 

[Imp]

I don't do a lot with compost. just don't need it. Most of my chicken poop goes into the trash.

Imp

 

[WalkerH]

Either give it to a friend or just throw it out. Although I would suggest if you are just going to throw it out use sand rather then shavings or hay. It seems it is like scooping from a cat litter pan.

 

[Arielle]

Please take the CDC recommendation seriously. Salmonella has been a terrible problem in young children as the 5 and under ages aren't able to follow sanitation rules. In Massachusetts pet turtles were banned for years just for this reason: turtles often have salmonella and youngsters do touch the turtle then their own face and lips. THey are children; that's what children do.

Yes, for thousands of years humans have lived with chickens; but no one mentions that most of the children that contracted salmonella died. We have antibiotics and support therapy in our modern hospitals to combat an infection these days but the result can still be devistating.

Many sources of poultry are also salmonella free.Consider only reputable sources. Including the big hatcheries as they are the mostly likely to test and know the status. Look for the NPIP listing and ask which diseases the birds were tested for. Ask loads of questions until you are comfortable with the source. Do they test and what are the results. Avoid the swaps as a source.

My boys are 7 and 9 now and do a good job of hand washing; but even they aren't perfect.I love my kids and I'm sure you do too. You may want to wait until the children are a little older.

 

[arcatamarcia]

Before I got chickens I posted on Craig's list looking for manure for my compost pile. I got lots of horse manure offers (some of which I accepted...I'm a big fan of manure in my compost) but no chicken. I have friends with chickens who would not give me chicken manure because they all use it in their compost. My guess is if you just made a pile and posted on Craig's list in the garden section that people can get free chicken manure, you will have lots of calls.

The other thing is lots of chicken manure composts down to a relatively small amount of compost, depending on what else you put in your pile. You might find, if you just try it, that you have no problem keeping up with it. I have four chickens in my typical suburban backyard, and don't get nearly enough compost just from them for my needs.

 

[arcatamarcia]

Quote:
FYI, nothing you throw in landfill...not manure, not carrots, nothing....composts. Composting requires oxygen. Once something is buried in landfill it doesn't get that and will just sit there for decades. Something to remember when we think of reducing waste in landfill.

 

[atlatl1949]

Quote:
FYI, nothing you throw in landfill...not manure, not carrots, nothing....composts. Composting requires oxygen. Once something is buried in landfill it doesn't get that and will just sit there for decades. Something to remember when we think of reducing waste in landfill.

Food for thought:Where does the methane in landfills come from? From decaying matter,including chicken manure.Buried matter does decay,oil and gas deposits are created in exactly the same manner as methane in landfills...