What do YOU do with the poop?

[MamaJohnson]

I'm tossing around ideas of what to do with the poop and shavings that come out of the coops. What do you do that has proven be a good idea?

 

[chickengrandma]

I "sell" mine to co-workers! Ok, so I actually give it away to some very willing takers. I have too much for my little compost pile, so everyone else takes it for theirs.

 

[gryeyes]

I rake it all out onto the ground next to the coop, rake up the obvious clumps of poo, and put those into the compost pile. The chickens delight in scratching in the loose litter, as if they hadn't seen any of it every day inside the coop for the past few months. It gets spread out and becomes the ground around the coop. Everything here is that horrible, hard adobe clay stuff, so SOME DAY the run may have some really good, amended soil and grow something. You know, in the far future when there aren't chickens there, like 2 or 3 thousdand years from now.

 

[elmo]

Composter.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Mine goes on the veggie garden in the Fall and Spring to be tilled in. Neighbors also like to use on their gardens too.

 

[Delphinium]

We're new to this... our chicks are 1 week old... but we plan on composting it. I have already had several friends ask for any extra that we don't want. They have heard how wonderful it is for gardens.

 

[urbanfarmer101]

I compost some, but it does take a while to break down. I also mix it into the mulch rings around my trees.

 

[DIMBY]

I had a lot of it (7 hens) and what I didn't compost I mounded over the winter. A month ago I bought my "dream tool" - a chipper, shredder, that takes care of leaves and up to 2" branches (I have a LOT of pruning to do every year on my 1/2 acre and I'm tired of burning). Anyway, the shredder works wonderfully on the coop stuff - you want it fairly dry. I have folks lined up to take bags of it.

 

[gritsar]

To clean the coop out, my DH drives the tractor with the bucket attachment right up to the door and I shovel it in. He then drives it off to dump somewhere on the farm, with the cows following close behind him so they can get a taste.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Compost. Mulch around trees. Side dressing garden crops.