Flying Rat poo (probably a question for Snadger)

[Florence Fennel]

Forgive my naivety, but is pigeon poo any good for anything? A rather nice foreign chap near me keeps fancy (and I mean fancy, they're foreign) pigeons and has offered me the sweepings of their quarters).

[Flummery]

Well, I'm not Snadger - I'd fail the medical for one thing! - but the chap who had my old allotment before me kept pigeons and added the 'product' to his compost. Darned good soil we had there!

[Florence Fennel]

Sorry Flum, it's just I assumed that because Snadger calls them "flying rats" he would "home" in on the question! I should accept then. Do I dig it into the soil, or put it in the compost bins?

[Dynamo]

I believe its very rich in nitrogen which is good, but also a lot of horrible chemicals like ammonia. Everyone I know who uses pigeon manure lets it rot well before they use it because it will burn the plants otherwise.

[Florence Fennel]

I did wonder about that, so do I leave it to rot down in sacks, a heap, or in the daleks?

[Dynamo]

I'd put it on your compost heap. It will help to rot down the stuff and also add plenty of nitrogen to it.

[bearded bloke]

Logically it would most likely be used in a similar manner to chicken poo pellets

[Snadger]

My auld Dad was a railwayman and used to collect pigeon guano from under the railway bridges for his leek trench.
Not sure how he used it, but as bearded bloke says, would probably be used similar to chicken manure around plants (after being given a suitable amount of time to rot down) or as a compost activator straight away.

The stuff under the bridges was sometimes two foot thick, so he used to discard the top layer and only gather the under layer which was years old and like snuff!

[Flummery]

Yes, as the above posters have said, compost it well first. It's treasure!

[Florence Fennel]

Thank you so much for this, I'll "snatch his hand off".

[ginger ninger]

Flo...beware of the stuff, it carries sooooo many nasty things in it. Where a mask or get the man to dig it in for you. I found this...

"If people realized that droppings are a carrier for potentially fatal illnesses like salmonella, E.coli, respiratory histoplasmosis (which can permanently affect the lungs), Cryptococcosis, or meningitis to name a few, they would have more ammunition when demanding the control of birds and their waste."

Here's the full item for you to have a read at.

It might be great for the soil, but not for you. xx

[Florence Fennel]

That's very thoughtful of you Ginge, thank you very much.