Chicken poo - how can I use it?

[JenJuhasz]

I have 20 chickens! And they poo a lot. I've heard that their manure is basically smelly gold for a garden...but if it's incorporated incorrectly it will 'burn' the soil? Can someone explain to me how I can use it in my garden or around my fruit trees this year?

When do I incorporate it into the soil? Can I use it instead of fertilizer around my trees or worked into the garden soil?

Thanks so much!

 

[zigs]

It's good stuff but high in nitrogen, needs rotting down before applying. If you've got straw or wood shavings to mix with it then thats good

 

[JenJuhasz]

Would you compost it? Or just work the straw in manually? My coop floor is river sand (I use it kind of like kitty litter to help keep things clean) and those pressed wood pellets. I just rake the stuff out into a pile and once a year sort of re-spread the pile around. Is the sand okay for re-working with straw and woodshavings into the garden soil?

 

[Kansas Terri]

The way I see it, wild birds poop all the time and it does no harm. I figured out that that was because the wild birds scatter it so well, so when I have chicken poop I stick a shovel in it and fling it so it scatters. This works out very well for my trees. I honestly cannot tell how much good it does them but I just take it on faith that poop is good for trees. I do not use it on my vegetables at all because it can spread disease if it is applied before the manure breaks down.

I have also heard that chicken poop will burn the plants unless it is composted and the composted pile is turned regularly, and that when the pile is no longer hot inside that it is safe to use. I have also heard that if you mix in straw or leaves or grass clippings you get a better compost.

I am a little vague about compost piles, I am afraid, as I no longer make compost! Instead I mulch the vegetation around the plants and leave it alone and it gradually breaks down, and chicken poop gets flung under the trees so it scatters. I can say that I have never seen a tree suffer if chicken manure is scattered underneath.

 

[zigs]

Small amounts spread about or dug in should be fine, but the amounts you get from a Chicken coup could burn roots and cause too much sappy growth due to the amount of nitrogen in it. So I would compost it first if I had the choice.

Wood pellets will balance the Nitrogen/Carbon ratio nicely, but do take some time to rot down. Sand is pretty neutral

 

[headfullofbees]

You could try mixing it with straw or wood shavings and building a hotbed.

 

[zigs]

Hot beds are good

Lettuce in January in mine

 

[teamshepherd]

We have straw and wood shavings in our chicken and turkey coops. We built a sort of a 3 side enclosure in one area and that is where we throw all of our chicken poop mixed with the straw and shavings whenever we clean out the coops. It composts there really nicely, we don't turn it or do anything special to it though. We use it all over our garden later on.

That is how we use it and it's worked like charm for us. We also throw any plant cuttings (not really branches) such as grass or plant left overs from food onto the compost.

 

[marlingardener]

We too have chickens, and use the chicken manure on the vegetable gardens. I clean the coop daily and put the cleanings (grass clippings and poop) on the compost pile along with kitchen scraps, leaves, and twigs. After 6 months everything is composted and ready to use, but we are in a warm climate where the temperatures rarely get below 20 degrees.
The chicken compost really helps the garden--greens like lettuce, and the squash plants particularly like it. We broadcast it and till it in, and then later side dress plants with it. Wonderful stuff if you can get it, but it does have to be composted before use.