Need some advice on using chicken manure around the garden. I grow a bit of everything, but mainly ferns, Australian natives and cottage garden plants. I know chicken manure is much stronger than other manures, so need some info on watering it down. Also, can it be added straight to a compost heap? Gidge.
Gidge don't use it on the natives. TOO strong. I mix my manures with wood shavings and compost them that way. Make sure the maure is seasoned if your own birds are the producers. Wood shaving litter helps with that. A bit with the fern mulch is probably ok. Given our soils here, the plants are not used to this manna from the chooks. Keep it for your vegi garden and any European type plants in the cottage garden. Liz.
I was at the chicken farm today and got some chicken manure. This stuff is soggy and like slop...no where near the stuff I buy in bags at the store(in terms of texture). This chicken manure from the farm is mixed with wood shavings. It has a very foul smell. I just put it at the end of the garden...it probably can't be used since it might be fresh. What do you folks think...Is this fresh?
Dirty chicken yard but all good stuff. You mix it with some more shavings, straw or compost and let it sit for a while. Sounds a bit green. If you have a lot of rain protect it with a bit of tarping or plastic but so it can breath around the bottom. When sun is out take it off. Turn it every so often. Should be fine after a couple of months. The green stuff is chicken manure that has seeped into water puddles it is basically a dirt yard by the sound of it. When I have litter it is usually dry and I then sit it on a heap too mature. I suspect the bought stuff has gone through some sort of process to make it palatable for the home gardener. Liz
thanks for the reply. I read it could be phosphorous run off from the manure which causes this green pond around the manure pile.
Probably with the algae growing in it. It is fine. When my geese do there stuff it is green (digested grass) I am sure if I left it with some water the same thing would happen. http://www.seattletilth.org/resources/articles/compostingchickenmanure Liz
Good read Liz. Fresh chicken manure has diseases in it. It needs to be composted according to this article.
I was reading about farms in Asia that put their chicken coops over a pond that they had stocked with carp. The chicken manure would drop into the pond, and cause algae to bloom, which in turn would feed the carp. Interesting that they linked the output from one animal to the input of another in that way.
"Fresh chicken manure has diseases in it. It needs to be composted according to this article" It's also too hot. That is it will damage the plants. Can't remember why but the rule at home was at least 6 months on a turned heap with other matter in it. In our case wood shavings. Even the old feet thick stuff that was brought home several times over the years from a large shed on a farm was left to cure. Again it was mixed with the woodshavings. Probably to break it up and make it go further. I forgot to ask the reason. I just hated the job :( This far down the track I wished I had asked a few more questions about many things.... Liz
This sort of farming is what is causing some consternation here. We receive a lot of "fresh" food stuffs from Asia here and the story goes human waste is also being used as manures. Thats probably fine as it goes but I would have thought some sort of treatment would be needed to make it human disease free. http://weblife.org/humanure/chapter4_2.html Also the fish farms are fairly suss in many places... More cleanliness of the waters used than the actual practice http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AC236E/AC236E00.htm Liz
