I have poop boards in my coop so I can collect pure manure and help with clean up. I scrape the poop boards about every three days and get a couple pounds of dry light weight manure. I have read that to apply manure 90 days prior to harvesting any abouve ground crop and 120 before any root crop...but my question since it is dry does it still need composting time?
Chicken manure
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Ridgerunner
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Yes, it still needs composting time. It being dried has nothing to do with it. Composting breaks the hot nitrogen down to useable nitrogen.
The Mama Chicken
Attractive To Bees
I agree, if you put it directly in your garden it would burn your plants.
jomoncon
Chillin' In The Garden
Can you compost the manure by itself, just put it all in a pile for 90-120 days? Or does it have to be mixed with browns? I have lots of chicken poop, and few browns.Ridgerunner said:
so lucky
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I just throw the chicken poop/straw mixture in my regular compost pile. I was putting it on the garden fresh all winter, but stopped a couple of months ago. I have so many earth worms now, it is difficult to turn the soil because I am being careful not to chop them up unnecessarily. I'm not sure I believe that old tale about their regeneration abilities. Besides, that's gotta hurt!
Ridgerunner
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Where's Boggy when you need him? He's our resident composting expert, but his job has really got him tied up. He doesn't visit us much any more. I do miss him. He's a great guy.
I'd add as much carbon as you can. You can just pile the manure up, keep it moist but not wet, and it will decompose. My concern is what type of microbes will break it down. That does not matter as far as use, but if it goes anaerobic, it may get stinky and slimy until it decomposes. I'm not sure about that, but that would be my concern.
I don't think you absolutely have to add carbons. It will still be useful. I don't always (maybe seldom is more accurate) get the carbon-nitrogen ratio right anyway and it still works.
I'd add as much carbon as you can. You can just pile the manure up, keep it moist but not wet, and it will decompose. My concern is what type of microbes will break it down. That does not matter as far as use, but if it goes anaerobic, it may get stinky and slimy until it decomposes. I'm not sure about that, but that would be my concern.
I don't think you absolutely have to add carbons. It will still be useful. I don't always (maybe seldom is more accurate) get the carbon-nitrogen ratio right anyway and it still works.
backintime
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Regarding the poo boards, I have them too, and I line the boards with empty feed bags (the plasticky kind work better than the paper kind which tear when wet). I just pick the bags up by the 4 corners and carry the bundle out to the compost pile. No more scraping!
Regarding whether to compost, I was getting REALLY frustrated cuz I wanted to use my abundant source of fertilizer and could not seem to get my compost pile to heat up and "cook" the chicken manure. I know you can just cold compost it for a year, but I was in a hurry cuz I just built 350 sq. ft. of raised beds. Didn't want to take a chance with the uncomposted poo making us sick or burning the garden. Well, this winter my hens annoyed me by flinging their expensive organic mash out of the coop feeders into the bedding, until I modified the feeders. When I shoveled out the soiled bedding this spring, I mixed it with some pine needles, leaves, kitchen waste, and extra poo collected under the roosts, and the pile heated up so fast it was like I torched it! It was literally burning hot in a matter of days. I had 2 other cold compost piles that weren't doing much, and I layered in a few shovel fuls of this new hot compost and now have THREE raging hot compost piles. I'm turning/dampening them twice a week and thinking it will be finished and mellowed by this fall. I will feel better knowing the heat killed any pathogens in the poo.
Anyway, a friend told me the GRAIN (spilled feed) accelerated the composting process and that any grain would do the same, even a bag of flour. Obviously I never want to waste chicken feed (or people food) but am thinking about what other grains might work, like something stale from my pantry. Anyone have ideas?
Regarding whether to compost, I was getting REALLY frustrated cuz I wanted to use my abundant source of fertilizer and could not seem to get my compost pile to heat up and "cook" the chicken manure. I know you can just cold compost it for a year, but I was in a hurry cuz I just built 350 sq. ft. of raised beds. Didn't want to take a chance with the uncomposted poo making us sick or burning the garden. Well, this winter my hens annoyed me by flinging their expensive organic mash out of the coop feeders into the bedding, until I modified the feeders. When I shoveled out the soiled bedding this spring, I mixed it with some pine needles, leaves, kitchen waste, and extra poo collected under the roosts, and the pile heated up so fast it was like I torched it! It was literally burning hot in a matter of days. I had 2 other cold compost piles that weren't doing much, and I layered in a few shovel fuls of this new hot compost and now have THREE raging hot compost piles. I'm turning/dampening them twice a week and thinking it will be finished and mellowed by this fall. I will feel better knowing the heat killed any pathogens in the poo.
Anyway, a friend told me the GRAIN (spilled feed) accelerated the composting process and that any grain would do the same, even a bag of flour. Obviously I never want to waste chicken feed (or people food) but am thinking about what other grains might work, like something stale from my pantry. Anyone have ideas?
ducks4you
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I just remove and let it sit. I moved birds out of one outside enclosure in January, and the dirt with their manure is ready to mix in my gardens now. It doesn't take all that long to be cool enough to keep from burning your plants.
I THINK you're thinking about the "fast-track" composting where you pile up manure, keep turning it, and breaking it down fairly quickly. Normally stables pile up THEIR manure bc it heats up quickly and kills parasite eggs and the heat keeps the fly maggot population down. You need to pile it like a round pyramid, if that makes sense. If you do it like compost, add 2 brown to your 1 green (the manure) and turn frequently and it will heat up for you.
I THINK you're thinking about the "fast-track" composting where you pile up manure, keep turning it, and breaking it down fairly quickly. Normally stables pile up THEIR manure bc it heats up quickly and kills parasite eggs and the heat keeps the fly maggot population down. You need to pile it like a round pyramid, if that makes sense. If you do it like compost, add 2 brown to your 1 green (the manure) and turn frequently and it will heat up for you.
