Ok... Serious post this time. From chicken to garden.

[aidenbaby]

I've heard that some people use it on pathways. The concern is nitrogen burn being next to the plants.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

You really don't have to do anything for the chicken poo and shavings to compost. Just give them a little space. You can buy little fence looking compost pile containers, and just dump your stuff in and let it sit. We only turn ours once a year and always have a nice pile of compost at the bottom that we add to the garden. It takes longer that way but it's not hurting anything just sitting there.

I have had chickens for a year now and this is how I do it. I have a circle I made from fence and I just add to it. In the fall I am going to spead it over my garden and till it in.

 

[Granmahen]

I too have six chickens and have the same problem as the OP. I change the litter weekly so there isn't ALOT of poo to shavings.

My questions is more about using this as a mulch in my vegetable garden. Is that a bad idea? I want to use an organic material for mulching to keep the moisture in over the hot summer months.

Thanks!

*Don't mean to hijack your post my fellow nutmegger.

I used to rake the poop out of the chicken coop/run weekly. Heavens, I used to go in daily with a wisk broom and pan, honest. Then dump into a compost bin along with kitchen scraps and bunny poop (also with a bit of pine shavings). Now, the hens' home gets raked daily to mix newer droppings into pine shavings, a jar of food grade, d.e. weekly with a top layer of new shavings. And completely cleaned out twice a year. My compost breaks down fairly fast (I have two bins side by side, one for adding to and one for cooking) but I admit it is very mulchy looking, not the dark crumbly stuff. But the gardens still love it. Every few weeks I add a small top layer to what's already there and it adds nutrients while it helps hold in moisture. The only thing is I'd let it sit in a compost heap a few weeks before adding it to garden soil. Fresh chicken poop is just too hot and will burn the plants.:tools