Using Chicken Manure as Garden Fertilizer and Soil Amendment

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Take a few minutes to read this gardening article on how to use your poultry manure and chicken manure as a garden fertilizer and soil amendment. Afterwards, talk about your favorite ways to use chicken manure as fertilizer on our poultry message boards.

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It's a sunny summer afternoon. You stroll out into your vegetable garden and find rows of lettuce heads covered in dew; bright, red tomatoes; crisp green beans; and delicious carrots peaking out of the dirt. Your neighbors are jealous for obvious reasons. What makes your garden grow? Is it some sort of green magic? A garden fairy, perhaps?

Nope. It's a little secret called chicken manure fertilizer. It's literally a transforming process, taking your chicken and poultry's waste and turning it into powerful soil amendments that add a magical touch to your ripe tomatoes, corn, lettuce, radishes, swish chard, carrots and more.

The University of Florida says the following about chicken manure as fertilizer:

University of Florida: Poultry Manure as a Fertilizer by D.R. Sloan, G. Kidder and R.D. Jacobs
Animal manures have been used effectively as fertilizers for centuries. Poultry manure has long been recognized as perhaps the most desirable of these natural fertilizers because of its high nitrogen content. In addition, manures supply other essential plant nutrients and serve as a soil amendment by adding organic matter. Organic matter persistence will vary with temperature, drainage, rainfall, and other environmental factors. Organic matter in soil improves moisture and nutrient retention. The utilization of manure is an integral part of sustainable agriculture. Poultry manure is often produced in areas where it is needed for crop, hay and pasture fertilization. The increased size and frequent clean-out of many poultry operations make poultry manure available in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis to supply most fertilization needs.
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Even better, using your chicken manure as garden fertilizer is absolutely free. In this article, we'll tell you how to use your poultry manure, and how to make nutritious chicken manure tea to water your plants and give them healthy doses of vitamins. Why buy fertilizer and soil amendments when a little forethought and planning can give you rich fertilizer to feed your plants and turn your garden into a literal vegetable factory!

More info on chicken manure fertilizer below this ad:

"What's the nutrient and mineral makeup of chicken manure, and how do I use it in my garden?" you ask. The combined average percentages (per total weight) of aged chicken manure and litter--yes, you can use old litter from your chicken coop as a fertilizer!--is about 1.8 nitrogen, 1.5 phosphate, and 0.8 for potash.

With that much nitrogen, phosphate and potash, how much poultry manure should you use? An annual application of 45 pounds of chicken manure and chicken litter, or more, per year for every 100 square feet will be just right to work wonders in your vegetable garden and increase the fertility of your soil. 45 pounds is the approximate amount that one hen will produce every year. Thus, the average small-scale chicken flock of 5-10 chickens should be enough to take care of your entire vegetable garden and yard!

Here are a few general pointers and tips for using chicken manure as a fertilizer:

1) Never feed fresh chicken manure to young, tender plants! Fresh chicken manure is "hot," meaning it is very high in nitrogen and will "burn" the growing plants. This will kill your plants! Also, too much nitrogen can produce negative plant growth. This is why you need to age your chicken manure!

2) Poultry manure makes a great addition to compost! I recently received an "Earth Machine" composting bin as part of my local county government's initiative to reduce green waste in Hawaii's landfills. Although you do not need a "real" composter to compost, it can save you time. Whether or not you use an actual composter, any sort of composting converts nitrogen into a form that a plant can use without being burned. Composting also destroys the coccidia bacteria (a chicken disease), bacteria, worm eggs, and viruses, and stabilizes potash and nitrogen levels. Any composter will do, from the fancy type you see in Organic Gardening magazine, to simple homemade bins made of 2x4s and chicken wire.

Important note: Manure that is composted without carbon-based material (such as dry grass clippings) will overheat.

3) Give chicken manure time to age by spreading fresh poultry manure over your soil and turning the dirt at the end of the growing season to allow it time to decompose over the winter. However, you'll be required to keep your poultry birds out of the area for at least a year, preferably more.

You can also try making "tea". Chicken manure fertilizer tea; sounds delicious, eh? To make fertilizer tea, scoop the chicken manure into a burlap bag. Then, throw a rock into the bag to weigh it down and place the whole thing into a 35-gallon garbage can. Fill the garbage can with water and let it sit for about three weeks. Once the three weeks are over, you will have nutrient-rich chicken manure fertilizer tea as the water becomes infused with the nutrients from the chicken manure. You can use this fertilizer tea to water your plants to give them a vitamin boost.

Your plants will love you for it. Here's to bigger tomatoes!