how long does chicken poo have to age before it can be used in the garden?

[kmatt87]

i know fresh will burn plants, but how long should it age before its safe?

i have a 5 gal bucket i've been putting alot of poo into, along with some shavings and quite a bit of potting soil that was no longer needed (kids tend to drown my flowers when trying to help water). Its been there 3 - 4 wks.....

 

[NovaAman]

6 months to a year.

 

[cmfarm]

When I was getting my garden ready for spring planting I put a lot of chicken fertalizer on it. I let it sit for about 2 months and then tilled it in. The plants are doing great so it must be working well.

 

[cva34]

When I was getting my garden ready for spring planting I put a lot of chicken fertalizer on it. I let it sit for about 2 months and then tilled it in. The plants are doing great so it must be working well.

I do about same only .When I till my garden under ,at end of season I throw the poo too it and any compost I want to add, and till again and let it sit a couple months .Then till and plant ...cva34

 

[flewdacoop]

i use a chicken tracktor so my use the floor year around and about two months before i plant i move the chicken tracktor to my next year garden area and till up the previous spot about two months before i plant and it works good also.. that way it has time to rejuvinate itsellf every other year..

 

[Nicole01]

I have two compost piles of chicken poop. The first pile has a lot of chips within the poop. It's all nicely decomposing and turning into dirt. The chicken poo is all washed down to the bottom or the ground. My husband turns it over a couple times a year. We've used a bit in the garden this year and planting our trees. I was able to plant two little maples myself using the compost pile. I put the compost where I dug a hole since our land is very sandy. Both trees made it.

My husband put a fresh 50lb bag of poop right on a freshly planted 15ft weeping willow this past spring. I had no idea that wasn't the right thing to do, but this tree has already grown a few feet taller! It rained a bit and we washed in the poop before summer arrived. It was also mixed with pine chips, which stayed on the top as the poo washed down.

I'd give it a few months before using. If it rains or you water it down, it breaks down faster. We have both our piles along the woods edge next to our garden. Our first pile I can walk on, there is no more poo on top. I throw weeds and rotten vegetables in the compost as well.

With the new compost, I'll have egg shells, watermelon/apple/pear peelings and of course weeds and rotten veggies. Some people also use newspaper, which I might try.

My hens have all found the big/old compost pile. They make their way daily and eat the bugs/worms that are near the surface. It's a really big pile. I guess they are helping my husband turn it by scratching.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Safe handling protocol of manure in gardening is addressed by almost every State Ag University extension program. I find this one simple, concise, and easy to read.

http://umaine.edu/publications/2510e/


I post it here with some regularity.

 

[smilingcat]

chicken poo gets thrown into an active hot compost pile. The added nitrogen helps to keep the pile going with core temp near 160F. Aerobic composting is what you want to do when you have any poo. The temperature kills pathogen including worm eggs and any worm in it. I also mix wood shavings to balance out the carbon and nitrogen. Compost pile is usually finished in six month. It doesn't have to take a full year!!

I use the no till method and definitely not the double dig method that the French intensive farmers do. It's un-necessary. In fact, turning over the soil disrupts the fauna in the soil. If the soil is getting compacted, use a broad fork to loosen it up and that's about it. Compost is used as a top dressing and with watering and rain, the goodness of compost will seep deep into the ground. And organic matter will also find its way down into the soil.

If you plan on just scattering uncomposted chicken poo, I would highly recommend that you do NOT plant any root vegetables in that area for six month.