The message m
from Tim Challenger "timothy(dot)challenger(at)apk(dot)at" contains
these words:

I've got a small free-range egg/chicken farmer round the corner.
If I can get him to give me some of his animal's muck, say from the stalls
or whatever, can I use it on the garden? In the compost? Or am I wasting my
time? Does it have to be rotted like horse manure? What about diseases,
are there likely to be any problems?

In its raw concentrated state the high-nitrogen content is too strong
for putting round plants (could "burn" tissue or roots), but free-range
chickenshit (along with the woodshavings or straw the birds were housed
in and odd feathers etc) is the ideal, perfect material to enrich your
compost heap, heat it up and speed decomposition. Mixed with lawn
mowings, it's almost an incendiary device, so add plenty of urine to
damp it down :-) Matured and diluted by the other finished compost
ingredients it's perfectly safe for plants. People were always begging
us for our chickenshed cleanings as compost-activator.

The only time I'd use it raw direct in the soil, is mixed in the other
ingredients for a deep rich trench for planting beans or rhubarb...where
there's going to be a timelag (and lots of activity by soil organisms)
before the roots reach it.

As for diseases; many birds including chickens have bugs like
salmonella in their gut, so when you're handling fresh chicken shit it's
just common sense to wear gloves and not combine the job with eating
your elevenses/ rocking the baby. Composted and aged, there should be no
problem. We used composted chicken manure on our veg garden (including
salads) for decades with no problems at all.

Janet.