Using my chicks poop in the garden?

[jarcoo0153]

It will burn your plants if you add it now, Let it start to compost and mix it in your garden with leaves in the fall!

 

[Denninmi]

I had 4 Rhode Island Red hens (until end of March, one suddenly died for ? reason), now 3. I've been using a "deep litter" method, keeping them on about a foot or more of litter, and changing it out every 3 to 4 months. I was using straw at first, but I actually gathered TONS of bagged, very clean and dry oak leaves last fall and have been using those very successfully -- free litter, and the girls are thrilled when fresh bags come in, because they find and then eat acorns.

Anyway, since the litter is basically bone dry all the time, except for a little bit of water they slop from their water dispenser, the chicken manure really doesn't compost at all, it just dries out and stays that way. So, it is, in essence, very "hot" when I clean the whole thing out and use it. Aside from the oak leaves, I also shred all of my unwanted documents for security purposes (yeah, identity thieves, try pieceing together my credit card statements after they've seen the business end of a chicken butt!) and use those in the next box and coop, so there is a bit of paper pulp in there as well, but it's 95% leaves by volume.

Since this stuff is "hot" I don't put it on herbaceous plants, like perennials or vegetables, but I have been using it around larger, woody stuff and my bamboos. Let me assure you, those are some VERY happy plants now. The current season's growth on the bamboos has probably hit 20 to 25 feet, the tallest I've ever seen it, and the largest stalks. I have also put some of this stuff under my blueberries and grape vines, and they are just as happy, dark green and lush looking. Once it gets wet with the rain, the nutrients must come out pretty fast and the leaves begin to break down, but not as fst as the straw did.

It's gold, I tell you, gold!
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