Hey!!
Today I will be discussing chicken manure. For a person who wants to add manure to their garden the first option they think about is chicken manure as it is an excellent vegetable garden fertilizing manure but you need to know some important things about it like what actually chicken manure is, ways to compost it, benefits of using chicken manure and application time. So for that continue your reading.
Chicken Manure:
Don’t think just its name is chicken manure it consists of only chicken poop but it does contain wedding which is used in wood shaving or with animal feathers and feed supplements like calcium-rich oyster shells with a small number of Broken eggs and shells so a mixture of all of this broken down amount does benefit the garden.
All of this combination of organic material provides additional nutrition resources to the soil and also helps to aerate the soil, improve the soil tilth, and improve the soil’s ability to manage moisture retention and Drainage. This manure does help enhance the microbial environment.
Materials require for chicken manure compost:
The following are some materials which you do require for composting the chicken manure.
Brown Materials:
The brown material that you require should contain carbon rich ingredients which will work as a food source for the microorganism:
- Coop bedding
- Wood shavings
- Dry leaves
- Straw
- Hay
- Paper/Cardboard
Green Materials:
Following are the green material which are rich in nitrogen that you need for chicken manure compost
- Chicken manure
- Vegetable and fruit scraps
- Grass, leaf, and plant clippings
- Coffee grounds
- Egg shells
Ways to Compost Chicken Manure for Increasing Fertilization:
Providing your garden the chicken manure is one of the best nutrition-boosting fertilizers. You can also create the manual by yourself or with a bag of organic chicken manure from the garden center.
Here I will be discussing the ways to compose it chicken manure:
Collect manure and bedding:
You need to collect manure such as shaving sawdust, dry leaves, or straw to provide the chicken manure a dry cushion for chicken and it will also help to control the odor and pests.
Collect the bedding with manure and dump it into a compost bin.
Carbon to Nitrogen balance:
You need to balance the carbon to nitrogen for making a chicken manual that combines 30 parts of carbon to one part of Nitrogen which will be ideal for the environment for microbes to break down the organic material so that it produces the compost. As every bedding has its own ratio of carbon to nitrogen as the portion of bedding to manure is always dependent upon the type of bedding you are using.
You can create the manual by following a rule of one part brown to two parts Green this is because the chicken manual is high in nitrogen so using 1:1 or even 2:1 is perfect for your garden.
Use a “hot compost” recipe:
After combining the betting and Manure in a correct ratio to form a pile that is 1 cubic yard you need to add moisture for that the material needs to be nicely wet so that it produces a hot pile. You need to compost the pile heat to 130 to 150 degrees and maintain this temperature for 3 days.
The heating process is necessary so that the pathogens get destroyed but the temperature should be kept above 160 degrees because low temperature will kill the beneficial microorganism and also the process will get slow. To keep the temperature appropriate you can purchase a compost temperature gauge from a nursery shop.
Repeat the heating process:
After composting the pile when it reaches the required temperature after 3 days it will start to cool down and after the process of cooling is over put the center apart and move the core material to the edges and bring the edge material to the center to heat it. You need to repeat the process of bringing the edges to the Core and the edge to the center as it is one cubic yard of material and you need to repeat the process at least three times.
Let it cure:
You need to monitor the pile and after getting satisfied with the entire contents being heated, you need to use a loose cover and let it cure for 45 to 60 days. When you see the most material is dark in color, crumbly, and sweet smelling. it means that the material is ready
Monitor the pile and once you are satisfied that the entire contents of your bin have been heated, loosely cover and let cure for 45-60 days before using. when you notice most material is dark, crumbly, and sweet-smelling like soil it indicates the material is ready.
Add to the garden:
Now you can apply the compost to the vegetable garden or flower bed for that you need to spread it on the surface gently into the existing soil.
Composting challenges:
Make sure the compost pile doesn’t stink, or get attracted to pests.
How to Use Chicken Manure Compost?
After changing the chicken manure into compost you can easily use it in your garden or in the potted plants because they are rich in nutrients which will help you plant to grow healthy and increase the production.
Following are the way you can use chicken manure compost:
In the Garden:
- You can use the chicken manure compost in the garden by applying about 1-2 inches thick layer over the garden every year.
- The best time to apply the chicken manure Compost is in the fall season after harvesting the garden.
- You need to give the composite perfect time so that they can cover the winter and work perfectly into the soil by decomposition and microorganism.
In Pots:
- For using the chicken manure compost important plants you need to mix the compose into the potting soil and make sure to add new nutrients and make a well draining soil.
- Make sure the soil does not compose more than 50% of the soil mixture.
Benefits of Chicken Manure:
Using chicken manure is very strong for your vegetables and flowers for boosting them but if you use the manure without composting it then it may damage the roots and also kill the plants.
- The chicken manure that you add needs to be a good soil amendment that adds organic matter and does increases water holding capacity of the soil and benefits biota in the soil.
- Adding chicken manure as a fertilizer will provide nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium.
Safety Tips for using manure:
There are some points you need to know for safely using chicken manure as fresh manure such as:
- To some extent contains disease organisms that have root crops like carrots, radishes, beet, and leaves like lettuce and spinach so never spread the manure on soil.
- Always try to apply the composted or aged chicken manure in your garden soil.
- Before spreading the manure on the soil need to wear gloves, especially in case of handling livestock manure.
- You need to wash the raw vegetables before eating them.
- Avoid using cat dog or pig manure for composting the piles.
- In case of people who are susceptible to food-borne illnesses need to avoid eating of vegetables that are grown in manured gardens. For example pregnant women, very young children, and persons with cancer, kidney failure, liver disease, diabetes, or AIDS.
Hot vs. Cold Composting
For making chicken manual composting it do have two method such as cold composting and how hot composting which are able to turn chicken manual in two composed but there is a slide difference between the composting like:
Hot compost:
The hot composting requires more maintenance but they are able to convert the chicken manure into compost very quickly. During this method you need to maintain the composite file up to the temperature of 104 to 160 degree Fahrenheit for maintaining the proper management of moisture and turning the chicken manure into compost.
Cold compost:
When we talk about the cold compost it does not require more maintenance but the process of converting the manure into compost is at a slow rate. In this method the composed file does allow the material to decompose Naturally all you need to stimulate the composting process by completing the composting material needs occasionally and make sure the material does sit nicely into the soil to get the good result and stay for a longer time.
Conclusion:
I will conclude here with some important notes as chicken manure helps in making the soil more fertile and the plants gain more nutrients that cause faster growth but for that, you need to use the manure correctly. You need to make sure to always wear gloves as the manure does contain bacteria and viruses.
