Chicken poo mulch?

Mattemma

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Anyone use the pine shaving/chicken poo bedding in the garden?

I was flipping over the stuff to let the chickens get at the worms,and I thought it looked like good stuff for mulching in beds. I have not added fresh poo to that pile for atleast 4 months. It has soil mixed in and looks nutrient rich.

So far I have just put some around the base of bushes(they did not die),but would like to add it to my flower beds.

How long does pine shavings and chicken poo need to compost before it can be used on plants?

It would be nice to use this stuff instead of buying loads of mulch.If you have read my others posts you know I have the misfortune of always importing bugs with bought soil/mulch/wood chips.
 

lesa

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I apply mine in the fall and winter and till it in, come spring. I think it would be fine to use as a side dressing- on mature plants. Not around seedlings....If you have an out of the way spot- you could let it sit for a season- and it would fine for the next.
When I clean off my roosting boards, I put that fresh poop right in my garden (all during the winter) and then till it, in the spring.
That stuff that you were flipping that is 4 months old- I would say is fine for any garden purpose.
 

patandchickens

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If it's aged 4+ months it should not be too hard on your flowers, as long as it is used with some restraint.

I wouldn't worry as much about them as about using it around woody plants anyhow, since if you screw up an annual then oh well and if you screw up a perennial it will still probably come back next year, but it is not all that hard to kill or permanently-disfigure a shrub or tree.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 

hangin'witthepeeps

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I put my mulched chicken poo in my garden beds this spring before I planted. I have never seen such healthy plants.

I did add brown leaves to the chicken poo in equal amounts. I kept it turned and let the chickens have at it before I put in the beds. It cured from November until March. We had several snows this year which set it back and it was wet for a long time. It had to "dry" it before I used it.
 

so lucky

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I'm using relatively fresh chicken poo/pine shavings on paths through the veggie garden. It's keeping the weeds down pretty well. I plan on tilling it all under in the fall.
 

wifezilla

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I do a big duck pen clean out after I harvest and cover the beds with the mucky straw. Over winter it breaks down nicely. During growing season, I use it around mature plants and on paths, or just compost it.
 

Stubbornhillfarm

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I've been taking the pine shavings out of my coop, shaking/picking the poo out and mounding it on my potato plants. I had a friend come up the other day and she said, "Wow! I have never seen potato plants that big!" Apparently, just the shavings are giving them a boost. :D
 

wifezilla

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You don't have to buy fertilizer if you have poultry. Rabbit poo is also great for gardening beds. It's a great excuse to get animals anyway :)
 

gardentoad

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We make rabbit and chicken poo tea, 2/3 rabbit poo 1/3 aged chicken poo mix well add water and let set over night pour off the tea
And add more water, it sure makes all our stuff perk up, we do that every day until everything is broke down, then give the plants a couple of weeks and start over.


Don :watering
 

momofdrew

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dont put raw poop on any plants as it will burn the plants but 4 month old composted poop and pine shavings make great side dressing...I add mine to the compost pile and then turn it into the garden in the spring...
 

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