Poultry manure
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AdeTheSpade
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Hi, does anyone know if it's OK to put poultry manure on the compost heap? I do hope so as I've already done it actually, and then wondered whether I should have or not! The poultry manure was from a friend who had just cleaned out their chickens, contained woodshavings, and there's a never ending supply! At the time I thought all my birthdays had come at once and put it with great glee and pleasure on both my heaps, one at home and the other at the allotment! Hope someone can reassure me, please.....
Hi,
I have used poultry manure in the past with no trouble, only thing is it is very concentrated and best to add in small quantities to act as an activator. I used to add a layer and then 'stir' it well in to the rest of the heap. Mine was straw based and would rot down quicker than shavings.
Hope this reassures you.
Hilary
I have used poultry manure in the past with no trouble, only thing is it is very concentrated and best to add in small quantities to act as an activator. I used to add a layer and then 'stir' it well in to the rest of the heap. Mine was straw based and would rot down quicker than shavings.
Hope this reassures you.
Hilary
For people with just a few fowls the best way to allocate the manure is to make it into a slurry and then add about half a pint of slurry bit by bit to a 2 gallon watering can give it a very good stir and water onto your compost heap as evenly as possible.
Alternatively, because it is so rich, make a separate pile using layers of straw. When this has gone down then add to compost heap sparingly in very thin layers alternating with other compostable material.
Never be tempted to use it neat as it will burn just about anything it touches.
We have a very large poultry industry in this area and they now have an incinerator to burn this manure and turn it into electricity and they give the ash away. Well they used to, now they are asking for money to deliver it. I have used it for a few years now and even though it is manure ash it is still very nutritious. It is not allowed to be sold to the general public only to farmers and the likes where it will not be handled but disposed of directly onto land mechanically. I grows an amazing grass sward and the amounts that I have used on my vegetable plot have really given some wonderful results especially with Brassicas.
JB.
Alternatively, because it is so rich, make a separate pile using layers of straw. When this has gone down then add to compost heap sparingly in very thin layers alternating with other compostable material.
Never be tempted to use it neat as it will burn just about anything it touches.
We have a very large poultry industry in this area and they now have an incinerator to burn this manure and turn it into electricity and they give the ash away. Well they used to, now they are asking for money to deliver it. I have used it for a few years now and even though it is manure ash it is still very nutritious. It is not allowed to be sold to the general public only to farmers and the likes where it will not be handled but disposed of directly onto land mechanically. I grows an amazing grass sward and the amounts that I have used on my vegetable plot have really given some wonderful results especially with Brassicas.
JB.
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alan refail
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Hi Ade
Worry not. You will have done your compost nothing but good. Chicken manure is strong and a good activator.
While not disagreeing with anything Johnboy has said, here's what I do with what comes out of my hen and duck houses (17 ducks and 30 or so chickens). As the birds are truly free-range (i.e. out of their houses all day) only a proportion of the droppings remain to be cleaned out and composted. At most times of the year the droppings, mixed with wood-shaving litter, is totally dry. This goes straight into a compost bin which also takes all our kitchen rubbish and varying amounts of garden material, plus paper and cardboard. The strength of the droppings ensures that the wood shavings decompose much quicker than one might expect. The resulting compost is ready in less than a year, but is far better left for 18 months.
If my compost bins are full over the winter I spread droppings and shavings directly on the garden and let the hens spread them for me. After a few months this is quite ready to dig in and gives a good following crop.
I have never doubted the standard warning about using fresh manure direct as it will burn plants. However, come to think of it, I have never seen grass or clover or any other plant in the field adversely affected by the birds' outdoor droppings - and you don't get fresher than that!
Worry not. You will have done your compost nothing but good. Chicken manure is strong and a good activator.
While not disagreeing with anything Johnboy has said, here's what I do with what comes out of my hen and duck houses (17 ducks and 30 or so chickens). As the birds are truly free-range (i.e. out of their houses all day) only a proportion of the droppings remain to be cleaned out and composted. At most times of the year the droppings, mixed with wood-shaving litter, is totally dry. This goes straight into a compost bin which also takes all our kitchen rubbish and varying amounts of garden material, plus paper and cardboard. The strength of the droppings ensures that the wood shavings decompose much quicker than one might expect. The resulting compost is ready in less than a year, but is far better left for 18 months.
If my compost bins are full over the winter I spread droppings and shavings directly on the garden and let the hens spread them for me. After a few months this is quite ready to dig in and gives a good following crop.
I have never doubted the standard warning about using fresh manure direct as it will burn plants. However, come to think of it, I have never seen grass or clover or any other plant in the field adversely affected by the birds' outdoor droppings - and you don't get fresher than that!
Hi Alan,
Poultry manure as used by you on fallow ground is tempered by the weather and is perfectly good and wholesome. However not everybody has got the room that you and I have and fallow, to most gardeners, is an unheard of condition. Most gardeners have not got the capacity to store for 18 months and therefore if a large amount of poultry muck is added to a compost heap at one go then you will have totally unbalanced the whole compost heap. This is why I suggested the slurry method which has the tendency to generally distribute the nutrition evenly and then the entire heap will be constant. With the use of wood chippings as bedding certainly the tempering of the manure is hastened because the biodegrading wood chips will take one hell of a lot out of the manure.
One of the recognised methods of rotting down wood chippings and shavings is to layer it with poultry muck. The result of that is quite rapid and produces very fine soil.
I use poultry muck 'ash' on grassland but I would never take fresh poultry muck and spread on grassland that is to grow hay or silage. Certainly if I were growing a spring grown cereal then the muck would to spread several months prior to ploughing. You see farmers spreading fresh muck but usually on old stubble.
JB.
Poultry manure as used by you on fallow ground is tempered by the weather and is perfectly good and wholesome. However not everybody has got the room that you and I have and fallow, to most gardeners, is an unheard of condition. Most gardeners have not got the capacity to store for 18 months and therefore if a large amount of poultry muck is added to a compost heap at one go then you will have totally unbalanced the whole compost heap. This is why I suggested the slurry method which has the tendency to generally distribute the nutrition evenly and then the entire heap will be constant. With the use of wood chippings as bedding certainly the tempering of the manure is hastened because the biodegrading wood chips will take one hell of a lot out of the manure.
One of the recognised methods of rotting down wood chippings and shavings is to layer it with poultry muck. The result of that is quite rapid and produces very fine soil.
I use poultry muck 'ash' on grassland but I would never take fresh poultry muck and spread on grassland that is to grow hay or silage. Certainly if I were growing a spring grown cereal then the muck would to spread several months prior to ploughing. You see farmers spreading fresh muck but usually on old stubble.
JB.
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Primrose
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On the rare occasions I've been able to obtain poultry manure I've put it onto the compost heap with no ill effects. The only activity I would warn against is spread it out on the ground, fresh or rotted dow. I did this once on a hot day without realising what the after-effects would be. The smell lingered for over a week until we had some rain and I made myself extremely unpopular with both adjoining next door neighbours.
Hi Primrose,
For many years we in this area have had to put up with the stench of poultry muck being spread. This is even when it has been composted for several months.
It actually gets at your throat after a time and sore throats are the norm for about a month. You cannot hang any washing out on the line during this time. It got so bad that the law (a local by-law) says that the muck must be ploughed-in within 24 hours. My wife washed some jumpers for one of my daughters before she went to Sweden representing UK as a Girl Guide and when she got to Sweden she unpacked the jumpers and sadly was nicked named Stinking Fiona there after!
JB.
For many years we in this area have had to put up with the stench of poultry muck being spread. This is even when it has been composted for several months.
It actually gets at your throat after a time and sore throats are the norm for about a month. You cannot hang any washing out on the line during this time. It got so bad that the law (a local by-law) says that the muck must be ploughed-in within 24 hours. My wife washed some jumpers for one of my daughters before she went to Sweden representing UK as a Girl Guide and when she got to Sweden she unpacked the jumpers and sadly was nicked named Stinking Fiona there after!
JB.
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Primrose
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Johnboy - I can imagine how your daughter must have felt. Yes, this stuff really does pong. It never really occured to me at the time I was spreading it around - naively thought that within a few minutes the smell would have wafted away. I think if I ever got a bulk supply again I'd keep the bags closely fastened until I'd mowed the lawn, then dump the stuff on the compost heap and cover it quickly with the lawn mowings. That would hopefully keep the stink at bay.
The other thing which I've discoved really stinks on a compost heap is prawn shells. That's another item to be well covered up, especially in hot weather. I know some people would recommend not putting things like that on the heap but they do rot down in time and presumbably add some kind of trace nutrients to the compost.
The other thing which I've discoved really stinks on a compost heap is prawn shells. That's another item to be well covered up, especially in hot weather. I know some people would recommend not putting things like that on the heap but they do rot down in time and presumbably add some kind of trace nutrients to the compost.