wood shavings and chicken poop

[harrybrew69]

Right Ive got a good one for you.
the past two years Ive kept chickens. In there house I use shavings to cover the floor which they poop on. I have been putting all this chicken manure and shavings into a separate compost bin, just for this purpose. not a lot of kitchen waste goes into this bin maybe a few weeds here or there.

What id like to know is if this manure which takes a long time to break down suitable for the veg plot?

I ask because of the amount of wood shavings in there, i know that as wood rots it can rob the soil of nitrogen. I have also heard that chicken poop is packed with nitrogen, in the form of ammonia.

basically I'm confused and beginning to compile quite a hoard of chicken plop suggestions will be greatly received.

thanks harry.

[mr darcy]

I'd like to know too! I pooh pick (horse owners will understand!!) my coop everyday the girls have deep shevings for insulation,when I collect the eggs, the poop I chuck on my compost, the shavings I sweep out when they start looking grotty even after poopicking, these I burn. When the weather warms up I invisage using less shavings and brushing out often, because of mite inspection etc, so I too need to know if the whole lot will rot?!

[davefromthechipie]

Right Ive got a good one for you.
the past two years Ive kept chickens. In there house I use shavings to cover the floor which they poop on. I have been putting all this chicken manure and shavings into a separate compost bin, just for this purpose. not a lot of kitchen waste goes into this bin maybe a few weeds here or there.

What id like to know is if this manure which takes a long time to break down suitable for the veg plot?

I ask because of the amount of wood shavings in there, i know that as wood rots it can rob the soil of nitrogen. I have also heard that chicken poop is packed with nitrogen, in the form of ammonia.

basically I'm confused and beginning to compile quite a hoard of chicken plop suggestions will be greatly received.

thanks harry.

Your right the bedding is acidic and the chicken waste is alkaline ( both will kill roots put fresh on plants/veg ), it will make a balance manure in 2 to 3 years , that said speeding up the rate can done by turning over the heap every 2 weeks , buying a compost accelerator and weeing on it will help too .
Without useing testing gear on the manure .
id go for 2 to 3 years on chicken+bedding poo and 1 to 2 years on run poo , mixing a small amount into my veg/weed compost over a 6 month time seems to work for me .

[Two_Sheds]

Wood shavings need nitrogen to rot them down: there is plenty of that in chicken poo. Mix it all up and wait for it to turn brown and crumbly. If it needs some help, mix it with some grass clippings (mixed, not flung in big lumps).

Once it's rotted down, it's perfect to add to the soil as per any normal compost

[Suechooks]

Wood shavings take a long time to rot down thoroughly. I've changed to Easibed/Hemcore because of this - I have some 2 yearold poop heaps from when I used shavings really not yet ready to use as compost!
BTW I always understood that chicken poo was acidic - else why put lime on the run to neutralise it? Did a test with a soil tester this week of a small sample of soil/mud from the run which was full of droppings and it definitely showed acid both on capsule and meter?

[Two_Sheds]

BTW I always understood that chicken poo was acidic -

Most people are the same! However, it's not.

"the potential of ...poultry litter, to neutralize soil acidity and raise soil pH is less known. On the contrary, some people even think manure lowers soil pH as some commercial nitrogen fertilizers do.

Researchers found that chicken manure was as effective as lime in raising soil pH"

[Two_Sheds]

chicken manure is alkaline with a pH value of 9.0 Preliminary Studies on the Effects of three Animal Manure on the Ecological Conditions of Pond Water and Fish Growth

chicken manure tea, pH of 7.3 : http://www.echotech.org/technical/te...s/ChickenM.PDF

The RHS says "Most poultry manure is in the range of pH 6.5-8.0, being neutral to moderately alkaline"

[Nicos]

Interesting 2sheds!!

Nice bit of research!!

[Flummery]

I use easibed too. I put the pickings and cleanings in my bins with kitchen waste too. I think the balance of green stuff, brown stuff and high nitrogen poo balances it quite well. I've had chickens since April 09 and the bottom half of the bin I've already sorted has turned into wonderful crumbly compost. There are still woody bits in - but there are woody bits in the commercial multipurpose compost I buy. I turned the contents in late summer and of course, the later stuff that went in over winter didn't rot at all. That's started off the next heap.

I found in the warmer weather, that I could fill the bin to the top and a week or so later it had dropped down considerably. With warmth this mixture rots rapidly.

[BUFFS]

i have shavings mixed with bird poo and i buried it under the veg patch,2-3ft down and put on several handfuls of chicken pellet manure on top and gave it a good soak before covering it up with soil,it can rot down at its own rate under the veg,had dug hole 6ft long and 3ft deep and wide,intend to move along veg patch,burying as i go..im hoping i dont get any problems,will do parsnips etc at other end...fingers crossed..

[Two_Sheds]

i have shavings mixed with bird poo and i buried it under the veg patch

You may well see problems.
It will rob nitrogen from your soil (and your plants) to rot down (even if you've added nitrogen in the form of chicken pellets).

I put wet shredded newspaper in holes under some of my beans & a pumpkin last year (as an experiment) and I had very poor crops: the pumpkin didn't even grow.

A trench of any kind will also sink as it rots, so your plot can end up very bumpy and uneven.

I've done it

[harrybrew69]

That's a lot of useful information, thanks.
Hi two sheds thanks for the links, I particularly liked the one about chicken manure tea.
I think I may brew up a batch or three of the stuff myself this year. Free fertiliser is a winner in my book, plus if it only takes three weeks or so to brew up I'm sure i could make enough of the stuff to sell it.
the only downside is I'm probably going to have to pick out the best poo and leave the shavings behind. But worth it I think!