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chicken doo doo
It's getting close to chicken coop cleaning time. I've been thinking about piling the bedding from the coop on my garden spot. I converted to a no till method a few years back where heavy mulch is used. it's kinda like planting in a compost pile. my concern is that chicken doo doo is hot but I think by spring the doo doo should be broken down by then. any thought on this ?
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I concur, Randy. The chicken manure would indeed be "hot". Personally, I'd put it in a separate heap and let it cool off and rot down over winter. But I garden traditionally. Not sure whether you'd need to do the same for a no dig bed. It might be of benefit as it would kill off some weeds.
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It's a great idea but there are a couple of things to consider....
Chicken poop and the litter from the coop (Hey! that rhymed!) is about 1.8 nitrogen, 1.5 phosphate, and 0.8 for potash. So it's some pretty good stuff. However, there are little buggers in their like coccidia bacteria (you probably know all about that) as well as things like worm eggs and viruses. So dumping that stuff in your compost will kill those goobers and let the nitrogen and potash stabilize. Make certain you have some carbon based material (grass, leaves, etc) in your compost or the chicken poop will overheat. Let it over winter in the compost, turning it occasionally, and you'll have some great stuff next spring.
Another way to add it is make chicken poop tea. Dump your chicken poop in a burlap bag, add something like a rock to weigh it down, and put it inside a regular trash can. I think they are 25 or 30 gallons. Fill it up with water and let it steep for three weeks or so. You'll have some really great liquid fertilizer that you can water your plants with.
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thanks for the advise, I think I'll put in a separate pile. may even try the chicken poop tea....for the garden of course.
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Never had an issue using it in my garden,but I till it under in the fall after the garden is void of veggies for the year.
It's brkoen down pretty well by planting time the following spring.
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I'm thinking it would be ok to spread over the garden this fall too. it'll have 6 months to break down and it's manure and bedding, not straight manure.
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The chicken poop tea is the best! it doesnt take long for it to be usable, and it is good. However, if you havent used it all, discard it after a week or so, when it is no longer dark brown.
We also clean out the chicken coop after all garden plants are done, then till it under, let it set for the winter.
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There's just something wrong calling anything made with chicken poo - tea.
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