what to do with chicken "waste"

ALIBOBSY

Ok so good news is after a long time talking about it and looking into it we finally got ourselves some chickies hurrah!

Now I remember reading that the gebneral waste from the bottom of the coop can be used as plant food, but not sure how.

Ours will be a mix of sawdust and straw plus the poop itself. Can this go on the ground directly around the plants or does it need to rot down like horse manure.

I assume it can go on the compost heap to break down, but we already seem to fill those up really quickly lol.

We also have a rabbit and a hamster producing waste as well, like a farm here rofl.

ali x

redsam

sometimes it can be a bit too strong to stick straight on plants, some people suggest mixed lime with it. We do a mixture of bot in the compost or kicked out the chicken shed and dug straight onto the plot, we put other stuff on the plot - lead mould etc whihc helps to break it down. However you do it, its great stuff and this year after we moved the ched , we planted courgettes, pumpkins and squashes.....got masses of them!

Lotus-eater

I know you can put it straight onto comfrey, I wouldn't put it on anything else till it was well rotted down tbh.
Just build another heap, it's brilliant stuff for the garden.

gillian62

I always put it in with composting leaves/weeds etc. The straw keeps it really warm, so breaks down quicker. It needs to be rotted down otherwise it will burn plants.

You could always try putting it in a deep trench and leave it over winter to break down, ready for spring crops.

Mojisola

gillian62 wrote: »

I always put it in with composting leaves/weeds etc. The straw keeps it really warm, so breaks down quicker. It needs to be rotted down otherwise it will burn plants.

You could always try putting it in a deep trench and leave it over winter to break down, ready for spring crops.

I wouldn't put fresh droppings round any plants. Composting is best. Everything will break down faster because of the nitrogen in the chicken poop.

If you use the trench method, cover the ground, otherwise a lot of the nitrogen will get leached out by rain over the winter.

ALIBOBSY

I wondered about putting a layer on top of any raised beds we don't use over winter as a sort of mulch and feed for nest spring?

Would cover over the top with say cardboard of black plastic to keep the weeds off and then plant up next year?

ali x

redsam

yep go for it

Primrose

chicken waste is excellent but it's too strong to use immediately as it will burn plants and will be too rich for soil if you're planning to grow anything in it immediately. Best to start a separate heap for it, let it weather in the rain and rot down. It should be OK by next Spring.