Chicken poop fertilizer?

[AppleCore13]

Please can someone give me some advice for using chicken manure as fertilizer for a vegetable garden?

 

[Java Guy]

Make sure you prepare it properly before using if you are collecting it fresh from the chickens...

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/manures/chicken-manure-fertilizer.htm

 

[Chuck]

Chicken manure is one of the best fertilizers there is. But, make sure it is dried and composted. You can actually burn the roots of your plants by using to much of it and especially if it is green.Personally I would never use it straight. When I can get it I mix it with my compost and sometimes when it is well composted I use it in my compost tea

 

[Esther Knapicius]

We had chickens on a little farm growing up, and my dad always had a chicken manure pile as he cleaned out the hen house. He used it in his gardens mixing it in the soil without issue. In fact in the cold winters of Ohio, he would have thrown rotten tomatoes on the pile during the summer and in the spring they would sprout back on their own on the manure pile.
Also for sweet veggies you want to finish your garden bed for the winter with a layer of lime, let the lime seep in through the winter, then till normal and plant in spring.

 

[alexiskilgannon]

I have never heard of using chicken poop as fertilizer. It makes sense, though. I would assume it would need to be fresh. I'm glad you mentioned this though, my friend has chickens and it would be a useful thing to have.

 

[Trellum]

We used to keep chickens as pets when I was little We never used their manure for plants because they actually burn the plants, but I have heard that if you dry t and prepare it well it's excellent!

 

[marlingardener]

Chicken manure needs to be aged for at least six months. We have chickens, and believe me, I am familiar with all aspects of chicken manure! It is a great fertilizer, high in nitrogen, which is why it can burn plants if used fresh.
Smell will help you decide if the manure is aged enough. If you catch a whiff of "chicken poop", let it age a bit longer.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

I remembered when I was still in my home country my grandfather had chickens in their backyard and their manure my grandfather is using it as fertilizers in his plants at home. I think it is effective because all his plants are all healthy.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

the bottom line with any fertilizer is the amount you use to mix in with your soil. for chicken manure I would only do a third to 2/3 soil. Cow manure I like cutting it with 1/3 compost, and 1/3 soil. (then 1/3 cow manure) . BTW, my dad would rotate a pile, the chicken manure pile he would use in the garden would be one whole year old.

 

[Beth_B]

One of the better vegetable gardens I've ever had was way back when I had chickens. Free range, but they had a secure coop under a big oak tree for at night. I can't recall how long I let it age, but I'd have piles of rotting oak leaves and old chicken poop and amended the soil everywhere with that...had just amazing yields and very healthy plants! Mind you that was back when I lived in Northern California, so very good growing climate. But we had awful sandy soil and the poop and oak leaves really helped.

 

[AppleCore13]

Thanks to everyone for your help. It's much appreciated!

 

[Corzhens]

Chicken manure is the favorite fertilizer of my husband. They had a small poultry when he was young, that's where he learned how to use chicken manure for his garden. You have to dry the chicken manure for about a week before mixing in the soil. For a plot of 1 meter long, mix a handful of chicken manure. If the plot is being prepared for planting, you can mix 2 handfuls but when there are plants already, just 1 handful and the plot should be watered regularly because the chicken manure is a hot thing, it can burn the roots if not properly watered.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

yep, I recall from my fathers pile that the steam would rise even in the cold winter of Ohio.

 

[headfullofbees]

As Chuck said, "...But, make sure it is dried and composted..."
You do that, you've got the basis for the most complete, natural, organic, slow-release fertiliser available.
Not just good for N but for P and K too, and high in Calcium as well, which helps with blossom end rot.
It really can be used for any plant (unless you're growing some that you don't want to flower...)

 

[headfullofbees]

If you have chicken manure because you actually have chickens, rather than just a source of manure, I'd advise letting your chickens onto your plot prior to planting.
They will clear every seed from your plot, and you'll have no annual weeds in near future.