It’s truly amazing just how much raising a few backyard chickens can improve your garden. Not only because of the manure they can provide to power your garden, but how much they can help with weeds, pests and more.
Because of its high potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and nitrogen content, it provides organic power without having to resort to man-made additives and alternatives. With that in mind, here is a look at how to safely use chicken manure in your garden and power up your soil and plants like never before:
Chicken manure as a soil builder: One of the safest, easiest and most effective ways to use chicken manure is as a soil builder. The ideal time to do this is in autumn when your garden has completed its growing season.
After the last harvest of the growing season, apply a few inches of fresh chicken manure over top of the soil. A good rule of thumb is to use about 1 kilogramme of chicken manure for every 1 square metre of garden area. Depending on how large your garden space is, you can mix it into the soil by hand, or till it into the soil.
Chicken manure compost: The most common way to use chicken manure in the garden is as a compost/fertiliser. Fortunately, turning chicken manure into incredibly powerful compost is a simple process. This is not the same as adding to a compost pile, but making an entire pile from chicken manure and the bedding.
Begin by collecting the shavings, straw and the manure. You want your pile to consist of about 1/3 manure and 2/3 bedding or straw. If there is too much manure, you can add additional straw or even grass clippings to get the right ratio.
Chicken manure as a side dressing: Chicken manure that is aged slightly can be applied as a side dressing to plants in your vegetable garden. When using it for side dressing, complete composting is not required.
It is important to note, fresh chicken manure should not be used in your vegetable garden. It should be aged for at least four to six weeks before application. Fresh manure can contain bacteria that can be harmful to you and your plants. It can also be too hot with nutrients and burn your plants.
When applying partially aged chicken manure as a side dressing, place the manure about 8 to 12 inches away from the plants.
Chicken manure tea: Finally, aged chicken manure can also be used to make manure tea. It is 100 per cent natural and is in liquid form. There are only a handful of things you need to use to make manure tea:
- Aged chicken manure
- Stirring stick
- 5-litre bucket
- Colander
- Water
Begin by filling a five-litre bucket 1/3 full of aged manure. Next, fill the bucket with water. Allow the mix of water and manure to age for two to three days, stirring it a couple of times each day. After it has soaked for a few days, strain the mixture with an old colander to remove any solids from it.
At this point, you can add the leftover solids to your compost pile. What you are left with is an amazing liquid fertiliser that you can use to water and power your plants with. It is full of all of the Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium and other trace minerals that were in the chicken manure, but in liquid form.
With this mixture, it is best to water around the base of the plants and not the leaves. This will avoid any chance of burning the leaves.
Remember: fresh chicken manure should go in the vegetable garden at least 90 to 120 days before planting. Here is to building more nutrients into your garden, and building better soil with chicken manure.
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