what do you do with all the poop ?

[bokboklady]

not a very savoury question i know but there is so much of it !, i know some people put it on there shrubs and plants but i dont really relish the thought of chucking poo around, i put newspaper under their roost perch then in the morning just scoop it all up and bag it up, then double bag it for the refuse collection, there must be other ways to recycle it, i noticed in my local garden centre they sell tubs of chicken manure pellets, so sombody has cashed in , i would be interested to know what others do.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Probably the most common thing we do is compost it. There are many different ways of doing that and it sounds like your space may be limited. There are several threads on here about composting. You can probably find them using the search feature in the blue bar above. You can also visit the sister site, TheEasyGarden.com. They have one specific area on composting.

If you are going to bag it, you can advertise on Craigslist or maybe contact a local garden club. Many newspapers have somebody who writes a garden coloumn. They probably know someone that would come get it. Or if there is a Master Gardener program in your area, try contacting them. Or maybe talk to the poeople at your garden center. I think you can get somebody to pick it up on a regular basis. Serious gardeners consider chicken poop black gold.

Your method of collecting it may present some problems for composting, but that can be worked out. Many people use linoleum under the roost and just scrape it off into a bucket. Or paint the wood so it is slick and smooth so your can scrape it into a bucket. There are lots of different ways to handle the situation.

Good luck!

 

[7L Farm]

WE put it on our hay fields one year & doubled our yield. Its not cheap.

 

[bokboklady]

Quote:
thanks for that, its certainly given me something to think about, black gold a, hummmm!

 

[Adora]

I use it in my compost/worm beds. My mom is a green thumb, she can grow any plant. I can't, if I even say a plant is mine it dies

but it turns out, I'm great at making dirt.Chicken poop makes great compost material.

 

[bigspringshatchery]

Isn't it bad to put poop on plants and stuff. I've heard that it will burn the plants. So I think you will need to compost it if you're wanting to use as fertilizer. Or am I wrong?

 

[sammileah]

i pile it all up and in the fall i spread it over my gardens let it sit all winter and then till it under in the spring. alot of ppl will tell you that chicken poop has to sit for a yr cause it is to hot. that gave me the idea of using for a hot box. I do know that every seed i planted in my chicken poo garden grew. it was nuts.

 

[rancher hicks]

I have a garden of raised beds and I use the stuff from the coop and run to fill the beds. I put a bale of straw in the run and let them tear it apart and "scratch" for scratch in it. Keeps them busy.

Provided you don't put it up agains the trunk of the bushes or trees I suppose you can use it for mulch.
I also use it to "fill in" any low lying areas of the yard. I have a number of places the water pools in when it rains.
some ideas?

mix it with sand and put it in the run to have the chickens "rework" it.
bag it and try to sell it to gardeners. I figure even $1 is better than nothing. I would use paper grocery bags and then put them in a plastic bag. 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket should be enough.
mixed with leaves and grass clippings this stuff is great.

Wishing you the best

rancher

 

[Mark & Nique]

I put it in the compost bin. After a cycle and many turnings, it is ready for the garden!

 

[stilldeb]

It goes into the compost bin with the pine shavings, too, most of the year, but now that the garden is dormant, I dump it directly on the garden to work in for next season. World's best fertilizer!

deb g