Chicken manure pellets

[Liza]

Just a thought, where do chicken manure pellets come from ( obviously from chickens ) ? BUT are they a by-product of battery farming ? Anyone any info please.

[Two_Sheds]

battery farming, yes. Unless they say 'organic' or 'free range' on the label

[Liza]

Thanks TS will avoid unless organic or free range.

[smallblueplanet]

It has to say more than 'organic' on the bucket because lots of sellers will say their chicken poo is organic, which it is - poo is organically based! But unless you see a Soil Association symbol it is not certified organic.

There aren't many which are, think Tamar Organics sell some & Garden Organic too.

The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Rooster organic fertiliser manufacturer & suppliers UK

[HeyWayne]

I have never thought about that to be honest!

Thanks for pointing it out.

[Liza]

Its only just dawned on me to be honest. I am thinking that alot of peeps out there dont realese they are buying free range eggs ... but feeding battery farming by buying these pellets yuck

Glad I have my own chooks

[HeyWayne]

Its only just dawned on me to be honest. I am thinking that alot of peeps out there dont realese they are buying free range eggs ... but feeding battery farming by buying these pellets yuck

Glad I have my own chooks

They 'deliver' pellets then?

[Liza]

Yes every day, straight into compst bin and onto plot in 6 months, job done .

[Snadger]

Yes every day, straight into compst bin and onto plot in 6 months, job done .

My chooks have been in the greenhouse all winter so the bed soil is well pelletised! Hope the toms appreciate it!

[Paulottie]

Interesting...so if a hen were truly 'freerange' you'd need to follow it around with a shovel...yet most freerange means they have an overcrowded pen where they peck around at each other and in their own faeces. What does 'organic' mean...the certified food in and (often cruelly) withholding medicine?...a battery hen could therefore be fed 'organic' produce 'organic' poo.

I don't imagine that 'organic' or often 'freerange' has much to do with animal welfare...more with marketing.

just a thought.

[organic]

Paulottie - for organic certification farmers are required to medicate their animals where needed... even if doing so would mean the animal losing its organic status. In fact, failure to do so can lead to loss of certification.
It's the routine use of antibiotics on healthy animals (a really bad practice) that's forbidden.

You could feed a battery hen with organic food until it could eat no more and you ended up with a chicken version of foie gras... it still wouldn't be "organic". They can't even just be kept in big barns with a limit on birds per area, they have to have outdoor access* and (IIRC) ad-hoc feeding and drinking.

I believe "free range" is a term that can be a bit misleading, but certainly "organic" standards require a lot more than a chemical-free animal.


* for Soil Association certification have to have that access for pretty much their whole life.

[smallblueplanet]

I don't imagine that 'organic' or often 'freerange' has much to do with animal welfare...more with marketing.

Perhaps you should at least look into things before being quite so cynical? I think your question has been answered. The system might not be perfect, but anything that addresses the question of animal welfare HAS to be a good thing.

Paulottie - for organic certification farmers are required to medicate their animals where needed... even if doing so would mean the animal losing its organic status. In fact, failure to do so can lead to loss of certification.
It's the routine use of antibiotics on healthy animals (a really bad practice) that's forbidden.

You could feed a battery hen with organic food until it could eat no more and you ended up with a chicken version of foie gras... it still wouldn't be "organic". They can't even just be kept in big barns with a limit on birds per area, they have to have outdoor access* and (IIRC) ad-hoc feeding and drinking.

I believe "free range" is a term that can be a bit misleading, but certainly "organic" standards require a lot more than a chemical-free animal.


* for Soil Association certification have to have that access for pretty much their whole life.

[Maddie106]

Interesting...so if a hen were truly 'freerange' you'd need to follow it around with a shovel...yet most freerange means they have an overcrowded pen where they peck around at each other and in their own faeces. What does 'organic' mean...the certified food in and (often cruelly) withholding medicine?...a battery hen could therefore be fed 'organic' produce 'organic' poo.

I don't imagine that 'organic' or often 'freerange' has much to do with animal welfare...more with marketing.

just a thought.

If you look at the soil association regs about "organic", it DOES take on board animal welfare.The rules are REALLY strict!

I'm a bit cynical about buying "organic" or "free-range" at my local supermarket, particularly as recently some bloke was fined because he was importing battery farmed eggs from abroad and supplying supermarkets with "free-range" eggs!

My answer is to grow my own veg and fruit ( But that's NOT organic, because I use gro more as a general fertilizer!) and I'm not sure if my chooks are officially "free range"? They have their own secure run, but only get out into the garden under supervision.
In 2008, they ate all my leeks, onions, sprouts and spring cabbage when they were totally free-range!!!!!

When I lived in a rural area, I bought my eggs from the farm gate and could SEE the chickens were free-range. Meat could be bought from local butchers who knew exactly where the produce had come from, or it came from farmers who I knew personally. Often NOT people with soil assocation accreditation, but who I knew hadn't used hormones/antibitics to increase yield, or crammed animals up to get high yields.
But the eggs/meat were NOT cheap.
Nor do I honestly think they tasted any better!
The bottom line is that growing organically/free-range IS more expensive to the producer and therefore the consumer.

About 10 years ago, I had about 20 free range chickens( definately free-range, cos they had 1/2 an acre of land !), so had far more eggs than we could use. I sold the extra eggs at work. I couldn't claim "Organic", even tho I fed them organic layers pellets, because I wasn't going thro the hoops to be registered with the soil association, PLUS they loved eating veg peelings/rice/pasta from my kitchen.( Not sure if that food was organic)

I gave up selling eggs to colleagues after several people wondered what supplement I'd been feeding the chooks to get such very yellow yolks!! ( The answer was the girls had been eating grass!)

[chris]

I keep forgetting I have a tub of "Chicken Poo" in the garage...

D'oh!

I've one raised bed left to fill, is it worth mixing some in there now? - going to be used for either leaks, or sweet corn depending on which is ready first

[Snadger]

................ - going to be used for either leaks, or sweet corn depending on which is ready first

Yes for leeks which rely on leaf growth to give them girth, but I would say no for sweet corn where you are trying to promote cob formation.