rabbit & chicken manure?

[Jeremy Ebers]

I have rabbits & chickens that we raise on our place & I was wondering if there's anything I should do to the manure before using it on my vegetable garden or my wifes flowers? I'm considering the deep litter method I've heard about to put my poultry to wk composting but I'm not sure how to make the best use of all the free fertilizer we have layn around

 

[Ridgerunner]

Your the second new Okie in about a week. Welcome neighbor. Glad you are here. I'll try to let @Kassaundra know. She's our resident Okie and very talented with a camera. She has some interesting chickens too.

I don't have rabbits but several people on here do. Rabbit manure is supposed to be mild enough to go straight onto the plants without burning them. I'll let people with rabbits tell you about that.

Chicken manure is a lot higher in nitrogen. If it touches plants directly it can burn them or even kill them. I think I did that to a couple of tomatoes one year. There are two different ways to handle that. You can just wait until your garden is finished in the fall and empty your chicken coop bedding directly onto the garden. By springtime it will have broken down and cause no problems. That's kind of a fall tradition for a lot of people. It really helps the garden too.

Or you can compost it. I don't know how much you know about composting. You can make it as simple or as complicated as you wish, as labor-intensive or as labor-free as you wish. You can carefully match browns and greens, turn it regularly, and keep the moisture just right, or you can pile it up and walk away though in our climate a little extra moisture in the summer is probably a real good thing.

I know the deep litter method is supposed to compost it for you but I don't trust that system to do that. For it to break down it needs enough moisture to keep the microbes alive. If it gets too much moisture it is going to stink. That's too fine a balance for me to trust. I have a large coop with a dirt floor. I keep it dry and just add wood shavings occasionally as needed. Then once every four years or so I empty the bedding on the garden in the fall. I have a droppings board and catch pure manure from the chickens that goes on my compost pile on a regular basis.

Hang on to your log-in info and tell us about your veggies, flowers, and animals. We are a fairly small group. We have a lot of fun here but can get real serious when it comes to gardening.

 

[so lucky]

Gardeners with rabbits call rabbit pellets black gold. they say rabbit manure is not "hot'' like chicken manure is. I compost the chicken litter for a while before potting it on veggies, but rabbit manure can be used immediately. I'm sure some folks with both will reply.

 

[so lucky]

Gardeners with rabbits call rabbit pellets black gold. they say rabbit manure is not "hot'' like chicken manure is. I compost the chicken litter for a while before potting it on veggies, but rabbit manure can be used immediately. I'm sure some folks with both will reply.

Ridge is on the ball. I am still half asleep.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Coffee, So Lucky, coffee!

 

[Kassaundra]

from Henryetta. I don't have anything to add about aging chicken poo, I am firmly in the lazy composter camp. I throw everything in a big pile and wait.

 

[Smart Red]

So happy, @Jeremy Ebers, to have you join us. Welcome to TEG from south-est, central-est Wisconsin.

Good advice was already given. I compost my deep-litter chicken waste over the winter for use in the veggies. My fertilizer bunny gives me instant results.

 

[ninnymary]

Welcome Jeremy! I scrape my board daily and add it to my compost bin. This works for me and when I go on vacation I just use the shavings with D.E. Tell us more about your garden. This is a great place with great people. You will enjoy being here.

Mary

 

[Jeremy Ebers]

Well this year we planted an area roughly 30'x40' with veggies but we just bought our place in december so we're still feelin the place out lol I have lots of beautiful lil surprises popping up in the flower beds & my wife is really excited about doing more landscaping. I need to look deeper into composting since my yard is covered with pecan & oak trees providing an abundance of leaves any feedback is greatly appreciated & will be put to good use

 

[ducks4you]

, the FRIENDLIEST forum on the Internet, where we help each other and build each other up.
I have horses and chickens. I clean and make piles and sometimes I use them 4-6 months old OR leave it until next year, which you can do if you have the room on your property to pile it up. I live on 5 acres. It's all about mixing and not using that day fresh.
If ONLY I had a tractor to move my manure with...
I also study everywhere I can and I am currently studying up on solarizing my beds, where you thorough hand-till (using a spade or fork), then cover with black plastic for 4-6 weeks at a time of year to kill all seeds. It doesn't kill the microbes.
Gardening is crazy fun for ME bc I get to play in the beds, nobody is my boss, and I never feel badly when a plant dies, unlike when I lose a chicken, horse, dog or cat.