Any hazards/problems w/disposing chicken manure?

On my to-do-list this spring is to clean out the area under the chicken coop floor where all the droppings fall once dry. I’ll save some of it for my garden, but I have way more manure than I need so I will haul it to the back of our property. I have a few, what are probably dumb questions, but I don’t want to learn things the hard way, so here goes….

If I dump it all in a pile, do I have to worry about it getting “hot”? If yes, it won’t get hot enough to catch things on fire, right??
Do I need to dig a hole and bury it?
How do you all dispose of your chicken manure?

Thanks! You all are the best!
Glenda

All my coop cleanings go into my gardens. I think you can safely pile it up to compost and use later. The huge mulch piles at "dirt factories" do sometimes catch fire by spontaneous combustion, but I doubt your pile would.

I thought you were supposed to compost it for a year before using it in the garden? I haven't used it directly.. I have an old compost pile I bury it in... I don't mind the poo.. the feed is what stinks when it starts to compost..

Porkpal, when do you put your chicken manure in your garden; in the fall or spring?

You don't have to worry about piling it up if it is in the open air. It will get hot due to the amount but open air will take care of that.

Whew, thanks Hay!

I add chicken poop (and shavings) to my gardens year round. I just spread it thinly on top of the mulch (which is anything at all: grass clippings, leaves, horse manure, hay, sawdust, etc) and let everything compost in place. It seems to work fine.

I agree with Porkpal, thats pretty much the same way I do it. I mix the chicken manure also with ashes of burnt stickers, limbs, pruned raspberriy stock, paper etc...Hay

I once used fresh chicken manure on my garden. Did not dig it in but put it between the rows. mistake! The ammonia from the fresh manure burned the leaves. Bad! Since that time I compost all.

Perhaps the dose is the difference.

I'm sure it is Porkpal.. cause it sure doesn't hurt when the chickens visit the garden daily and put fresh poop on there..

Just that in a large amount, that's what I've read.. Dadofnine tells why.

By the way.. Welcome to the poultry forum Dadofnine! :)

So just a very light dusting of chicken manure is the ticket. My fear has always been burning my plants so I will err on the side of caution and pray I'm doing it right. ((crossing my fingers)) ;)

Glenda, they talk about this on the soil & Composting forum... That's where I was warned about it.. Might check there?

Hi
Did not mean to tread were I should not. But I just did not want someone to make the same mistake I did. It happened back in NH. It was fresh manure from a local egg place. The manure was free and they had a lot. It burned my potatoes and killed them. We had chickens there and have some here too. About 60.
I think that amount is the difference. I never really thought about that. I just avoid using fresh manure. And keep the chickens out of the garden, although they do range on the area fall and winter.

rich

You can "burn" your plants with an overdose of commercial fertilizers too. If a little bit is good...(just use a little bit.)

Dadofnine, you did not tread where you should not, if you were referring to posting here.. All posts are welcome... even if you don't agree.. or have some wild new idea... it takes all kinds to make DG work. :) If we all agreed on every single topic, there would be nothing to talk about!

Furthermore, I agree with you cause I learned about chicken poo as being too hot to use directly in the composting forum.. It gets really hot in a pile of compost..


Porkpal is right.. and as always, has a good point. :)

Thanks ZZ, I'll check out the soil and composting forum; hadn't thought of looking there. I went straight to the source of the manure - Poultry. lol

Dadofnine, you're posts are fine; ZZ is right! :) Chime in anytime....