What do i do with all the poo?

[FractalFarmer]

Any reason you couldn't bury it? I wouldn't do it right next to trees, but unless you have a bunch of chickens I would expect any problem with excess nitrogen a few or several feet away.

 

[thepetpaw]

My compost pile doesnt smell either...and I have lots of poop....I have 11 turkeys that roost in a tree every night and let me tell you - they can poop and poop all night long! the chickens poop isnt near as much as thiers and next week I am going to have to start a new compost pile - with all the poop and leaves from fall my first one is getting a little large to manage!

 

[AngelzFyre]

You can also try advertising at your local feed store and such for people to come pick it up.
Pile it out of the way somewhere or let them leave a small trailer or buckets to fill for the week and then come get it. We do this at the horse farm where I work and always have someone wanting the manure. I'm sure it'd work for chicken manure as well.
Lots of gardeners are stockpiling this time of year to use as top dressing for next year, as well as adding it to existing beds so it decomposes over the winter and mixes in with the falling leaves.
Just a thought

.

 

[Kitchenella]

I use shredded newspaper in my little coop. Will that compost?

Peggy

 

[FractalFarmer]

Quote:
I compost poo from 17 chickens, plus kitchen scraps, plus quite a bit of paper of all sorts. The newspaper composts great, and it doesn't really get smelly that I notice. I don't water my compost pile at all though, because I don't care if it takes a long time to break down. It might smell more if it were kept wetter. I do cover it w/ leaves & grass clippings periodically, especially after I dump a load of chicken manure out.

 

[chilisweet]

Sprinkle the poo with DE. And add DE to your chickens food. We have a hole in our yard that eventually got filled, and now our girls rummage thru the poo/shavings/hay. They aerate it for us on a daily basis. No smell. Just DE it to death and you should be good.

Also, bag it up and sell it to your neighbors for $5 a bag. They will love it and their gardens next year will rock!

~Caran

 

[farmergal]

I know most people compost chicken manure before using it in the garden, and I plan on doing that with most of my manure. BUT, I have also added it fresh to the garden -- and the plants seem to enjoy it fresh too! I have pine shavings as bedding, and the pine shaving/chicken poo combo seems to really break up my crummy, clay soil and help it drain. (Not to mention give the plants a nitrogen boost.) I just hoed the poopy litter into the soil. I'm not too worried about bacteria because my soil's pretty active, lots of worms and microbes and good stuff to break things down.

As for newspapers, they will break down in a compost pile... but I have heard that colored ink has some toxicity to it. Specifically, I've been told that if you use worms to compost, you shouldn't add colored newspapers -- just black and white -- because some of the ingredients to the ink can hurt the worms.

Just a thought, if you're going to add it to your garden and are obsessively organic/anti chemical.... or are worried about the health of your soil....

 

[txchickie]

I throw it on our burn pile. We have a big pile of limbs and leaves and straw w/chicken poop and pine shavings w/horse, pig, and goat poop. I just have a big wheelbarrow that I scoop/fork up all of the bedding and poop and take it over and toss it on the pile. No smell at all....I think the sun helps dry it all out and that's why it doesn't smell.

We burn it all down occasionally and I'm planning on starting a garden this spring. Here in a few weeks DH and I will till some of the burned ashes into the future garden spot.

 

[cajunlizz]

OK .... I want to create a LARGE WORM farm ( heehee ) for the chickens out back .

Dh dumped pine shavings FULL of chicken poop way out back . What do i do to create ZILLIONS of earth worms , I know the chickens love the worms . ANY SUGGESTIONS ?

 

[lovemychix]

I used to have a compost pile with all my kitchen scraps....I was never into that professional compost stuff and just threw all my stuff in a pile at the edge of the garden. Well...now I have chickens I don't have any kitchen scraps...just poo. I just scatter it over the garden in the winter and let it do it's thing. Till it in and hope for a good garden. I just hope I don't get the kick to let the girls out and think they won't eat it off again.

About the poo pile and worms or whatever grows in that steamy pile of sickness. My chickens love to go out there and find out what is festering in it. They stir it up for me. That is why chickens are the best. They stir up my pile of poo. Love those chickens. They do my chores.