What do YOU do with a year's worth of DeepLitterMethod's used litter?

[Carolyn252]

In the Spring, I plan on emptying my two chicken's four-foot by four-foot square coop of its year's accumulation of chicken poop, pine shavings, DE and feathers. What should I do with it all so that it doesn't attract flies, and doesn't start to smell in the hot sun of summer? I'm guessing the litter is now about eight inches deep on the floor of the coop. Might be about a foot deep by the time the weather really warms up around here at the end of June/beginning of July.

 

[dichotomymom]

We till it into our garden. Our produce size and quality has improved so much since we started doing this.

 

[emys]

side dress a hedge row?

 

[ChickBond 007]

goes into the garden and around the trees in the orchard

 

[MandyH]

Ours gets spread over the garden and around the fruit trees.

 

[heritagebirds]

There are plans out there for a Digester(one step beyond composter), which you can use to heat your house. Can't remember where the link is, but I'm sure I can find it again.

 

[briana1975]

Be careful chicken poop is a hot ferilizer. And wood chips can raise you acid levels in the soil. The best thing to do is let is compost first. We only put it directly on the garden at the beginning of fall and rotatill it in so it has the rest of fall, all of winter and part of spring to compost into the soil some. I have two big compost piles that we put it in thru the spring and summer. It is great fertilizer though.

 

[BarkerChickens]

If the garden bed are empty (between seasons) it gets mixed in. Usually it is put in the side yard to compost first. We add some to the fruit trees as well. We also put some down along the walk ways in our garden to cut down on mud.

 

[PhilErvin]

We compost ours.
If you don't have a compost heap now would be a good time to start one. If you still have leaves on the ground that you can rake up they would be an excellent start. Read up on what to add and what to avoid and I guarantee you'll be glad you did come summer.....

 

[chicklinde]

we compost ours all year than dig it in the beds come spring. wonderful fertilizer!