Chicken manure

A friend of mine keeps chickens and he's offered me a bin bag of chicken manure, could I just throw in straight in my compost bin, or would I have to store it far a while?

 

Chuck it straight in. It actually accelerates the composting process.

Rusty

 

Chicken Manure is high in Nitroen, if used straight on to garden it can burn grass/plants etc, also there may be weed seed from the meal/wheat that they are fed on

 

That's great , how much could I actually throw in, as he cleans his hens out twice a week, as it's free as well only got to collect it

 

If you add it to the bin, do it over a period of time and in layers to help the composting process.
You could also make it into a high nitrogen liquid feed by putting some into a hessian sack or leg of a pair of tights and soaking in water.

 

Always ensuring of course, that you are not wearing said tights at the time.

 

"Always ensuring of course, that you are not wearing said tights at the time. "

What I do in the privacy of my garden is no one's business but my own

 

@Dave W How long does it need to soak for??

 

"How long does it need to soak for??"

How long is a piece of string? It depends on how much poo and how large the bucket/container. You should aim for a final dilution that looks a bit like weak tea. You can draw off an initial strong concentrate after a couple of weeks and dilute it and then repeat the process with less or no dilution. It's a bit like reusing a tea bag!

 

Cheers dave,ive got 14 hens so i have lots of poop.. A few week thats brill!ive used all my old rotted poop so i was thinking i would have to wait for the comfrey to grow again and make liquid feed,never knew you could do it with hen poop

 

Hi dave,i soaked some manure approx 3 week back but it was freshish manure so can i still use that liquid?only that ive just been reading that you shouldnt plant anything until 90-120 days depending on whether it veg or salad crops because of pathogens but it doesnt say if that includes liquid manure made from fresh manure
Thanks

 

Sorry Joolz but I can't give you an answer regarding pathogens. At a guess I would think that the level of pathogens in liquid and fresh would be much the same to start with though those in liquid might die off faster due to lack of oxygen.
I think that if you are sensible and try not to get liquid feed onto leaves and also wash veg/salad you ought to be pretty safe.
One of my pupils who kept pigeons used to bring me sacks of pigeon poo that I soaked and used as fertiliser and the only effect was well nourished veg!
As far as I'm aware the level of pathogens in poo depends on the diet of the 'donor'. Meat eaters and omnivors tend to excrete pathogens which is why dog and cat feces shouldn't be composted, while that of herbivors is generally safe. It could well be that your chooks have a meat free diet in which case they are probably a safe source. But I think that some battery hens diets may be somewhat dubious.
Best do a bit more research if you are worried, but personally I'd soak it, water it in and watch things grow.

 

Thanks dave,i know my hens are ok or id be dead by now
Just to be on the safe side(as i give produce to friends),i will not use it on the allotment veg/salad beds this summer but i will enhance my canna beds ready for planting in june
I will from now on keep composting it and use it for winter mulch plus keep topping up my liquid feed for my garden plants
Ive heard dandelions are good aswell dave,i might get my cauldron out
Have we got a thread for home made fertilisers on here? if not Dave and your up for it ..get it started x
Ive got lots to learn yet

 

i have to say im a bit confuddled about the whole burning/scorching effect its supposed to have? i ask as...well...it never happens to ours

we have an aviary with small birds (budgies, finches ect) not quite the same but hey! bird poo is bird poo, right?...just ours is mini sized LOL they more than make up for it in quantity though mind you every so often throughout the summer the last few years i've been scattering said tiny bird poos around the lawn, shrubs, plants, tops of pots ect, it soon gets washed in with the first drop of rain...and we've never had any adverse effect, quite the contrary, the garden the last few years has been luscious especially the lawn! YAY is it just that ive managed to scattered the poop just thinly enough not to cause burning (although sometime ye'know in places it ain't all that thin)

 

Yup ... hence my "volunteer" tomatoes each year