what do you do with your poo?

[ChatKath47]

Since I've only had my girls since May, I am still pretty new at this and the composter was such a good idea at the time, we got one. It's surprising how many people have asked for the manure for their own gardens and I am happy to share the daily collections. Living in a small town word gets out fast.

 

[mommomsandy5]

Every couple days I sift the poops out of roost boards sand/PDZ mix and put in covered kitty litter buckets for friends compost.

I have a big kitty litter container full of poo that I collected from using the PDZ stuff. I was just wondering if the poo would be safe (which has bits of the PDZ on it) to use on vegetables?

 

[LaurelC]

I have a big kitty litter container full of poo that I collected from using the PDZ stuff. I was just wondering if the poo would be safe (which has bits of the PDZ on it) to use on vegetables?

Based on my understanding, it's recommended that poo from warmblooded animals get hot composted for a minimum of 6 months, and cold composted for a minimum of 12 before being used on edible crops.

Now if you're sure that the poo will not be able to splash up and get onto the actual veggies you're eating, you could probably be safe with just aging it, but it is not recommended. (this scenario would involve spreading a layer of aged poop/compost, then covering with a layer of newspaper/cardboard and then mulching over the top). Personally, I just let it rot until there's nothing distinguishable there and make sure that my veggies have a layer of mulch over the top of the soil.

 

[MommaKnows]

We have had chickens for almost 4 years, and have always used pine shavings for the coop and nest boxes. I am deathly allergic to hay (as in I need an epipen if it comes in contact with my skin) so hay has never been an option. Our coop is raised off the ground almost 3', so I just open the big door and rake it into the wheelbarrow, and deposit it in various places around the garden. Our chooks live very happily in our 15' x 90' fenced garden area, with access to the back yard most of the time as well.


The garden has become more of a chicken yard than a place for growing veggies, since we have to use chicken wire to keep them from eating what we're growing! Still, they thrive there with 30' of raspberry bushes along the fence to hide under, and the chicken wire keeps them out of the tomatoes. I don't know if the pine shavings are good or bad for the garden, but my husband tills the whole thing 3x a year (spring, summer and fall) and I do know that all the poop is GOOD! Because of all the pine shavings I've never tried to do anything else with the poop. I don't feel like trying to sort it all out.

 

[aart]

Quote:

Quote: Yes, it's not the PDZ that is of concern but the pathogens in the poop.
If you can hot compost all of it and get it up to 150-160 degrees F that should kill most pathogens.

 

[Bine]

I use a mix chopped flax straw or rape straw and wheat straw. It breaks down better than straw and the rape/flax has always some seed left in the straw that entertains the girls when the weather is bad.

 

[MeepBeep]

I prefer to use my llama and good droppings to fertilize the gardens as it's a no burn fert (and I have plenty of that) so most of my chicken poop is just a nuisance even though it could be used as a fertilizer... The chicken poop removed from the poop boards gets put in a big spread out pile all summer in the pasture... I till that pile under in the fall, it provides for a better pasture grow out the next spring combined with some over seeding... The deep litter in the coop gets the same treatment when it's changed out and/or I will be using it to build up my pumpkin/watermelon hill height...

 

[koop]

My hens are in a tractor coop so we just drag it ahead one length every night.
For the last two winters I built a temporary coop in my garden from old garage door panels, then just added a bag of shavings every once in a while. In spring I take the whole coop down and shovelled the shavings into a pile and shovel it around a bit and bury compostables in it.
I looks good to me right now, I'll spread it out after the gardens done.

 

[ShidelsRestBB]

Since I live in an area that is 8 inches of soil on top of a gravel and sand ridge, raised planters are the thing.

The planters are 4 feet high. The mix is
18 inches of wood/ wood chips
18 inches of chicken poop straw compost
12 inches of potting mix

My orchard was dug down 4 feet, and the wood base is 15 feet wide. Best fruit producing.

The compost is everything that is not plastic, glass, or cardboard... except egg shell.

I have a seafood allergy, so instead of oyster shell, I dry and grind the egg shells for my laying hens. All is good.

 

[ShidelsRestBB]

Forgot to mention the watermelon and pumpkin patches.

That is where the fall change of the deep litter goes. Every 3 months, winter, Spring, and Summer go in compost. Fall is for the melons and squashes.