Pigeon & Chicken manure

[paul25]

Just moved onto a new plot and have been given a load of chicken and pigeon manure and i was wandering whether I would be ok to put this into my beds now or would I need to rot this down for 12 months first?
I have also been given a load of wood shavings that have been cleaned out of chicken pens, nad I was wandering if i could use this to condition the soil, or would I need to rot this down too?

[chris]

I don't know about pigeon manure, but chicken manure is 'hot' when fresh, so it really does need to rot down first.

The shavings would be good mixed in with the manure, I do that with mine. If you add the shavings into the soil, it'll rob nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes. It'll also take a while to break down, so by mixing the manure with it, helps it breakdown faster. I'd put it in whatever heap/bin you have for compost to help kick start the process and mix in your usual greens etc.

[Currysniffa]

I know a lot of the old timers on my lottie who keep pigeons put there pigeon manure in the onion beds, I was going to try it this year but I end up with a load of mushroom compost left over so I used that instead..

[Snadger]

My next door neighbours at the lottie bed their silkiies (chooks) on straw as they nave feathery legs and it helps to keep them clean.
They were bagging up the straw each week,which only has a small ammount of poo in it for disposal until I asked them to keep it for me.
I tip out the bags straight away,directly onto the soil around my soft fruit bushes as a mulch and have been doing so for a couple of years now.

I have had exceedingly good soft fruit crops!