I cleaned out my coop and and I've got straw mixed in with the chicken poop. Is this stuff good for anything? Should I compost it or throw it over the garden and till it in come May?

-- Paul (pbray@tds.net), March 20, 2001

Answers

Compost it and throw it into your garden, around trees, shrubs, use it when planting... Its wonderful fertilizer!!!

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), March 20, 2001.

We compost our chicken manure for about two months.

-- David in NH (grayfoxfarm@mcttelecom.com), March 20, 2001.

Probably the strongest fertilizer you can find in nature. It will burn most crops if you use too much and its hard not to. The wife bought a couple of loads a few years ago after reading how great it was. I didn't say anything about it knew it would be best if she learned on her own. Great fertilizer but when it rains on it the first couple of times you will have to leave home. Probably be best if you compost it and then use it.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), March 20, 2001.

Ill tell you another one. In Arkansas where they grow alot of chickens because of Tyson's. They take the dry litter and feed it to cattle the older ones will take right to it they say and the young ones you have to put alittle grain with it. And you have to have free choice hay. It will slick up and fatten a cow fast. Dont know if i would want to eat a beef that has been fatten on chicken crap though dale

-- dale (dgarr@fidnet.com), March 20, 2001.

As you can tell from these other posts,you've got some good and potent stuff on your hands. A little goes a long way. I cleaned out the old chicken coop years ago when I was a kid and didn't know better, put it out next to an apple tree, where it didn't get moved very fast. The tree put on a HUGE growth spurt, but it was very weak wood, because it grew too fast. I should have used just a little. You can mix it in with other things like chopped leaves and straw to 'dilute' it a bit, it should heat up your compost pile in a hurry!

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.net), March 21, 2001.

Be sure to always wear a paper mask when cleaning out the chicken coop. That dust is not good for you to breath in. If you can take the hose and wet it down, and then scoop it out would be better. Put it on a garden spot you won't use this year, use it next year. I like rabbitt and goat poopies (straight in the garden) but I don't like chicken poop. Cow and horse poopie goes in next years beds too. Don't want to grab one of THOSE when you're diggin' in the dirt!

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.

My son had a chicken in a coop about 3 feet off the ground. Everything he planted underneath it grew like wildfire.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), March 26, 2001.

Make up a bucket of "manure tea"! I put a shovel full of sh.. in a 5 gal. bucket, fill with water and let it set for about a week. Then just scoop out a coffee can full to spot fertilize whatever you want. Works wonders on houseplants, too!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), March 26, 2001.