Your chickens are good for more than just producing eggs. And you’ll have more than enough chicken manure to do some composting and make your own fertilizer. Chicken manure has some of the best benefits on the market and they will do wonders for your garden. Our article features the composting process for chicken manure.
Fresh chicken manure cannot be applied to your garden since it can possible burn your roots. So, you can compost it and turn it into a natural healthy additive. In order to get the process started, you’ll need to of course collect both manure and bedding for your pile. For bedding material, you can use dry leaves, sawdust, shavings or even straw.
In order for your microbes to become efficient and break organic material down, you’re going to need to create the perfect environment. This can be achieved with the use of 1-part brown to 2 parts of green materials. However, due to the nitrogen content in the manure, you can actually experiment with your desired mixture.
After you’ve done this, you’re also going to need to ensure that your pile is about a cubic yard. Then you’ll need to add moisture to your pile. This will then go on to create the perfect hot pile. As a rule of thumb, most composters tend to allow their pile to reach to an optimum temperature of about 150 degrees F for a period of 3 days.
As your pile heats up, all the harmful bacteria are killed. However, the piles are never left to go above 160 degrees F since they can easily kill any bacteria that is beneficial and your process will drastically slow down. However, you’ll need to repeat the heating process to ensure that the process continues; so, before you heat again, you can turn your pile in order for it to be exposed to enough air.
After some time, you’ll notice that progress is occurring and after the entire bin has been heated, you’ll need to let your material properly cure. Curing time usually takes about 60 days and when it’s just about ready, you’ll notice that it has an earthy scent. And it’ll be able to crumble easily. When you’ve gotten your compost, you can easily add it to your soil and both your flowers and vegetables will benefit a great deal.
However, it’s also best to keep in mind that you should only add properly composted aged manure to your soil. And you should always keep a pair of gloves handy so that you can use it when handling any form of manure. After you’ve gotten your fresh fruits and vegetables, it’s also recommended that you properly wash them before consumption. It is also advised that you do not try to compost pig, dog or cat manure.
As we conclude we have just discussed how to compost chicken manure. However, it’s best to keep in mind that you should not ever apply fresh manure to your plants. And you should always wear gloves when handling manure!