The first, and quickest way to compost chicken manure is using a hot composting system. What is this? In a hot composting system, you heat chicken manure to at least 130 F for at least 15 days.
Using wood shavings or rice hulls on the floor of the coop can absorb odours from the manure and help it decompose quickly. Litter also makes composting much easier. Make sure your birds have 6-8 inches of substrate in on the floor of the coop and in the preening area.
Chicken litter is high in nitrogen, and can be composted in about five to six weeks. Composting “cools” the manure and litter material, meaning it reduces the ammonia content so it will no longer burn plants. It also reduces the total volume, weight and odor of the pile.
Adding too much manure can lead to nitrate leaching, nutrient runoff, excessive vegetative growth and, for some manures, salt damage. And using fresh manure where food crops are grown poses risks for contamination with disease-causing pathogens.
For most crops, a good rule of thumb is to use about one pound of chicken manure per square foot of garden space. If you have very sandy soil, you may need to use less manure, as too much can cause problems with drainage. Conversely, if your soil is very clay-based, you may need to use more manure.
Decomposition will be complete anywhere from two weeks to two years depending on the materials used, the size of the pile, and how often it is turned. Compost is ready when it has cooled, turned a rich brown color, and has decomposed into small soil-like particles. Step 5. Use the compost.
Adding chicken manure to your compost bin is a wise decision not only because it allows you to recycle soiled bedding, but its advantageous effects on your garden soil are egg-ceptional! For all of us backyard chicken keepers in the know, chicken manure is the paramount ingredient in creating great compost!
Compost and manure are both great options for working into lawns, but manure's higher nitrogen content (especially chicken manure) gives it the edge over compost.
Quicklime, which is calcium oxide, and hydrated lime, which is calcium hydroxide, are the two common forms of lime you will find in garden or home improvement retail stores. Adding a dry alkali such as lime accelerates the volatilization of the nitrogen in chicken manure, which releases the ammonia faster.
Fresh chicken manure is exceptionally potent. Used in a raw state as a garden fertiliser it can easily kill your plants. To avoid harming your plants you need to allow chicken manure to cure. Here's how to use chicken manure in the garden as a safe and powerful plant and soil booster.
Ideally, you want to let 'hot' chicken manure age for a minimum of 3 months, but preferably 6 months up to 1 year. If you use the hot composting method in a warmed climate or sunny area, you may only need to let the chicken manure compost age for 3 months since the manure breaks down more quickly into compost.
Left alone, chicken waste should be safe for garden use after about one year, but high-heat composting can shorten this time considerably.
As a non-synthetic organic fertilizer, chicken manure has numerous benefits. It is a complete fertilizer that contains the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as important micronutrients such as calcium needed for healthy plant growth. Chicken manure is more than a fertilizer though.
Used fresh, it could burn plant roots, attract vermin and foxes, and would also be unattractive in appearance.
Vegetable root crops such as beets, carrots, radishes, and potatoes are particularly sensitive to adding horse manure. Salad greens are another vegetable type that can be damaged or burned by applying horse muck to the soil.
The manure can (and will) burn plants and their roots. This, however, is easily overcome—simply don't use the manure when it is too fresh. It should also be noted that chicken manure has the ability to harbor bacteria and pathogens like salmonella.
Simple organic activators you may have on hand are lime (limestone), blood meal (yes, it's dried blood), fish meal, and poultry, rabbit, and horse manure. Rabbit food (pellets) and dry dog food are also organic activators that are often have on-hand.
Many gardening and composting sites recommend adding urine onto compost heap to help speed things up. With cold composting this provides the bacteria with a source of food which can be digested quickly producing heat rapidly.
After the pile reaches around 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, you want to stop adding greens and limit the amount of browns so that the compost can cure. Keep turning the piles regularly to add oxygen.
The easiest composting method is using a compost bin and letting nature take its course. Dump your organic waste in the compost bin and wait. Depending on the size and type of the material, it will take between three to six months to produce good, healthy compost. The bin keeps it contained.