To use chicken manure effectively, you must add carbon-rich "browns" like straw, leaves, wood chips, or cardboard and compost it with water to balance its high nitrogen, preventing plant burn, creating rich fertilizer over time, or add it to the coop as bedding to break down slowly. Key additions for odor control in the coop include zeolite or coffee grounds, while compost requires a mix of about 2 parts browns to 1 part greens (manure/kitchen scraps).
Collect manure and bedding.
Chicken owners normally use bedding such as shavings, sawdust, dry leaves, or straw to provide a dry cushion for chickens and to control odor and pests. The coop bedding can be collected with the manure and dumped into a composting bin.
Whether composted or aged, manure should be applied no later than 90 days prior to harvest of non-ground-contact crops such as trellised tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers; and no later than 120 days prior to harvest of ground-contact crops such as lettuce, strawberries and carrots (Rosen, 2005).
Because of its tendency towards alkalinity, poultry manure is unsuitable for lime-hating (ericaceous) plants, such as rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, blueberries and heathers.
The nitrogen carries sizeable weight in both the benefits of chicken manure, and in its destructive potential. Nitrogen is a critical nutrient for plant growth, and too little of it leads to stunting, weakness, and eventually death; but too much of it overwhelms plant roots, also leading to death.
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.
Don't:
Autumn is the best time to spread manure on the surface of bare soil on vegetable beds or around plants in borders.
You should not compost onions, garlic, and citrus peels in large amounts (they're too acidic/repel worms), diseased plants (spreads illness), Black Walnut tree debris (toxic juglone), and any vegetables cooked with oils, fats, dairy, or meat, as these attract pests and disrupt the balance, but many vegetable scraps like peels, stalks, and leaves are great for compost.
Yes, tomatoes benefit from chicken manure when it is properly aged or composted. It promotes strong vegetative growth early in the season and supports healthy flowering and fruiting later on. Apply it to the soil before planting or use it as a top-dressing during the growing season for best results.
The 90/10 rule for feeding chickens means 90% of their diet should be a balanced, commercial feed (pellets or crumble) designed for their life stage, providing essential vitamins, minerals, and protein, while the remaining 10% can come from treats, scraps, garden forage, or scratch grains, ensuring treats don't dilute the crucial nutrients from their main diet for proper growth and egg production. This practice prevents overfeeding nutritionally weak extras and keeps hens healthy.
For established plants
Mix carefully so you don't disrupt any roots, and then water thoroughly afterwards.
Here are some signs that your compost may be struggling.
Zeolite absorbs moisture and neutralizes nitrogen, which is the main source of ammonia gas in chicken poop. It binds to the ammonia in the air, removing it from being a threat.
10 things you shouldn't put in your compost (and why!)
Absolutely. Wood chips are an organic material and bring valuable nutrients to the compost pile and beneficial fungi into the decomposing process.
Breaking Down Composting and Understanding the Basics
However, compost can only effectively improve soil quality if the organic stream remains clean. When non-compostable materials, such as conventional plastics, glass, metals, and produce stickers end up in the compost mix, they can easily derail the entire process.
Using pee: a how-to guide. Keep in mind that urine is very high in nitrogen. You may need to pee daily, but your plants don't need your daily pee. Choose plants that need lots of nitrogen, such as corn and squash, tomatoes and cucumbers during their fruit-bearing stage, and older plants that need a boost.
As you're relying on microbes to break down the waste, focusing on adding materials that are easier to digest will result in a faster process. For example, waste like grass clippings and shredded paper compost faster than wood because wood is high in lignin. Pro tip: Don't add meat, dairy, or oils to your pile.
Adding manure to the home vegetable garden can increase soil organic matter and may alter soil structure. Adding manure to soil will not change soil texture. Fall is the most common time of year for adding manure to a vegetable garden. The manure may be spread atop the soil or incorporated into the garden soil.
Surface-level vegetables that do not like manure:
You can just put the manure on the top of the soil and leave it, which will work. I prefer to dig it in to the soil because I find it breaks down quicker and the benefit of the manure is spread throughout the soil. It also stops lumps forming.
Toilet paper rolls are made from cardboard, so they are compostable! As long as these rolls aren't contaminated, they're a great addition to your compost bucket. Plus, it's a simple and easy solution to dispose of them.
Do NOT Compost
Certain citrus, most notably the Sour or Seville Orange, will not break down if the peel is perfectly intact. My guess is that the oils and acids of the rind prevent the entry of composting micro-organisms.