A good harvest is the pride of any gardener, and with modern trends to use only natural products in food, organic fertilizers are receiving more and more attention. Considering that not everyone can afford to keep cattle or pigs, the most accessible source of fertilizer is a chicken coop. Chicken manure has been used as a fertilizer since the moment when people started farming livestock and faced the acute problem of where to put waste.
Chicken manure contains the most important micro- and macroelements for plants. The specific gravity of organic matter, which is the basis of the fertile humus layer of the soil, is not less than 60%.
The ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, on the basis of which mineral fertilizers are produced in the chemical industry, is not less than 1.4:1.8:1.5.
Chicken manure contains a high content of iron and calcium salts. In addition, the composition is rich in manganese, sulfur, zinc, copper, boron. Rare earth compounds of molybdenum and cobalt are of particular value.
Fresh manure without foreign inclusions contains no more than 40% moisture. The acidity of natural organic fertilizer is within 6.5–7 pH.
In addition to its rich composition, chicken manure has specific features that make this fertilizer one of the most effective in the garden:
- Easily soluble in water.
- Does not have cake in the soil.
- Improves the structure of the soil.
- Has an extended validity period – up to 3 years.
- The composition is easily absorbed by the root system of garden crops.
- Using chicken manure as a fertilizer enriches the garden with beneficial microorganisms.
What plants is it suitable for?
Despite the fact that chicken manure for the garden is a universal fertilizer, it must be used with caution and in moderation.
It should be taken into account that not all plants respond equally well to fertilizing. Some, for example, root crops, lose their taste or change their structure. In small quantities, chicken manure will give sugar beets additional sweetness. Otherwise, instead of juicy pulp, you can get a dense, sinewy vegetable that is almost unfit for consumption.
Nightshades respond best to fertilizing: eggplants, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Especially if you manage to fertilize at the very beginning of the growing season. After the formation of the fruits, you should not do this – they will take longer to ripen.
Cabbage, cucumbers, and melons respond well to chicken manure fertilizing. Strawberries will be tastier and juicier if this fertilizer is used regularly.
Garden crops: fruit trees and shrubs can be fed a couple of times per season. Chicken manure is great for laying in planting holes, it will provide a powerful supply of nutrients for plants for at least a couple of years.
It is better to feed garlic or onions with chicken manure before the beginning of the growing season. Otherwise, they do not grow a bulb well but instead form a lush green mass.
Benefits and harms of chicken manure
Only knowing how to fertilize with chicken manure correctly, you can benefit from such feeding. If you neglect the dosage, you are unlikely to get a good result. Among the benefits of using fertilizer:
- Acceleration of vegetation.
- Increased yield.
- Soil structuring.
Potential harm from chicken manure is associated with the irrational use of natural fertilizer. If you do not follow the rules for diluting and feeding the concentrate of organic matter and mineral salts, you can:
- “Burn” the roots of vegetable, berry, or fruit crops.
- Overfeed and get only tops instead of a harvest.
- There are worms in the droppings. And no one has removed the threat of salmonellosis or other infections.
How to properly collect and store droppings
It is recommended to keep chickens on thick bedding. This is especially important in winter. For these purposes, you can use straw, hay, or sawdust. In the spring, when the chicken coop is cleaned, they are completely removed along with the accumulated droppings. Given the amount of work, it is necessary to use a pitchfork, shovel, or small rake, and for the finishing touches you will need a strong broom and, of course, containers for collection, maybe even a garden wheelbarrow.
When keeping chickens without litter, the droppings are removed from the trays daily or carefully raked into piles with garden tools and then collected with shovels or scoops.
It is necessary to work in protective clothing, preferably with a respirator, and use rubber gloves. Such precautions are associated with the risk of becoming infected with worms. In addition, decomposition processes occur in a thick layer of droppings. Fungal and bacterial colonies develop, often pathogenic. After collecting the droppings, the used tools and equipment are thoroughly disinfected. Clothes are washed.
After collection, the litter must be put into compost or dried if long-term storage is expected. If there is a need to use it immediately, then infusions are prepared or embedded in the soil.
Granulated chicken manure is prepared according to the same principle. Considering that chickens on poultry farms are kept in cages, the process of collecting their excrement is fully automated. The waste is immediately sent for drying, followed by extrusion. Processing of chicken manure occurs with minimal loss of organic matter and minerals. Therefore, it is as useful as that collected in a private farmstead.
How to make fertilizer
The concentration of organic compounds in the droppings is very high. In order not to make a mistake with the dosage, it is recommended to use it in pure form in the form of infusions, and with bedding – this is one of the best options to enrich the compost.
Due to its rich composition, chicken manure as a fertilizer is a universal fertilizer for the garden.
There are several ways to make fertilizer from chicken manure, but the most convenient, and therefore in demand, are infusion and compost. The first is convenient to use in the summer when there is intensive vegetation of plants in the garden. Then there will be no question of where to put the chicken manure after the next cleaning of the chicken coop.
Compost is a great option for recycling and storing large amounts of chicken manure that is generated after a spring general cleaning of the chicken coop. It usually contains bedding, which needs time to decompose and be fermented by beneficial microorganisms.
Infusion
For the infusion, you will need a container, chicken manure, and water. The maximum ratio is 0.5:10. For example, dilute 0.5 kg of manure in a standard 10-liter bucket of water and leave it under the lid for at least 3 days. The period can be increased to 5 days. The result is a concentration. The infusion prepared in this way cannot be used in its pure form. It is necessary to additionally dilute the chicken manure after fermentation 1 to 10.
Compost
If the chicken coop is large, then the question of how to prepare fertilizer from chicken manure is not the main one. The main problem is how to save it so that you can use it gradually while preserving its useful properties.
Compost is the only option that allows you to store chicken coop waste without losing its properties, while simultaneously enriching other organic matter. For example, kitchen scraps, fallen leaves, weeds, tops, collected fallen fruit, and substandard vegetables.
Pits or boxes for large volumes are prepared in advance. The dimensions are arbitrary, but not more than 1 m in depth, otherwise air access will be difficult and the mass will simply sour. The bottom is lined with straw, hay, or dry leaves. Sawdust or peat can be used. Then chicken manure and other organic matter are laid in alternating layers. They can be sprinkled with layers of sawdust, straw, hay, peat, or leaves. If the manure comes with bedding, this can be omitted. It is recommended to cover the last layer to prevent the nutrients from being washed out by precipitation.
It is often recommended to use worms or buy live cultures of microorganisms for processing chicken manure. You can do without them: the compost will rot perfectly naturally. This will take from 1.5 months.
Application of chicken manure
Before using chicken manure, it is necessary to carefully analyze the composition of the soil or determine its structure.
Chicken manure in its pure form, with compost or bedding is added to clayey and heavy soil in the fall. Soils that tend to be sandy loam or sandstone are fertilized with manure in the spring, immediately before the main plowing or digging. In this case, it is evenly distributed at a rate of 3-4 kg per 5 m 2 .
It makes sense to leave chicken manure uncovered in the soil if there is an excess of nitrogen in it: in this case, its compounds will evaporate into the atmosphere, and the remaining substances will be absorbed into the garden.
Chicken manure is widely used in private households. Its qualities are superior to those of larger animals and, unlike the latter, it can be used in pure form or as compost. It is enough to know how to dilute and how much to apply.
