If you have chickens, turning their poo into “black gold” by composting it is a killer way to enrich your soil. Since I have decided that I need to be a dirt gardener rather than a vegetable gardener {meaning, I need to create healthy soil and the veggies will basically grow themselves}, I throw chicken manure, bedding, etc. into the compost pile whenever I clean out their coops.
Making chicken manure compost is super simple, but there are a couple of safety guidelines to keep in mind. One, always wear gloves when you clean up the manure and move it to the compost pile. All manure can contain pathogens that aren’t stellar for humans, so a little precaution goes a long way.
The pathogens do not seep into the vegetable as they grow, but they can get on leaves and contaminate root crops, which is why it’s important not to spread uncomposted chicken manure straight onto the garden {I know some people do, but if you want err on the side of caution, compost it first}.
Second, if you do compost chicken manure, make sure to wash homegrown veggies and fruits before you bite into them–again, to err on the side of caution.
Another thing to keep in mind is that chicken manure compost is “hot”, meaning it is so rich in nutrients {mostly nitrogen}, it can burn plants. To avoid overly “hot” soil, let your compost “cure” for at least 45 days before you shovel it into your garden beds. Curing is basically letting finished compost sit. If your compost is done in the fall and you are done growing for the season, you can cure it in your garden beds. Just spread it out and let it sit, without anything growing in it over the winter.
It’s best to compost chicken manure with kitchen scraps, yard debris, chicken bedding etc. to create a more balanced compost. Basically, it can all go into one big compost pile. If you are set up to do it, letting your chickens “turn over” your pile also makes for awesome compost. They will sit there and eat out some of the food scraps, turning and scratching the pile as they go, they’ll poop a bit, adding to the pile, and voila, pretty soon, you’ll have hot steaming compost.
Ain’t nature grand?
~Mavis
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Lisa says
We have our garden (surrounded by deer fencing) next to the fenced (chain link) chicken yard. In the fall, we have a hole under the chain link fence so the little rototillers (er, chickens) can go into the garden as they please and do their thing. Then when we start to plant again, we plug up the hole.
I’m lazy and don’t have a separate compost pile. I throw everything in the garden during the off season. During the growing season, I just throw it off to the sides where there aren’t any plants. In the spring, we spread it all out and rototill it all in. Probably not doing it right, but it seems to work for now.
Sarah in Ga. says
We don’t have chickens but we do have a few rabbits and from what I’ve read online the rabbit manure or pellets are super good for gardens. They’re high in nutrients and considered “cold” not “hot” for whatever reason so no composting needed and it won’t burn the plants. I’m interested so I’m trying it this year and we’ll see!
Ruth Ward says
My first gardening location was my mother’s parents’ old chicken run. There hadn’t been any chickens there for years. But every year, I was the first to have lots of ripe tomatoes. As you said, the secret is to age it first. My other secret was my father’s fish filters. I would water the plants with the water that was wrung out of the angel hair filters. This water was dark brown with fish feces another great source for soil nutrients.
Teresa says
Can u hatch eggs without an incubator?