"0tterbot" wrote in message
...
hello,

if i have a pile of straw with chook poo in it (as i do), can anyone
tell me
the minimum time i can leave it till the chook poo is deactivated to
the
point where it won't burn the plants? (i don't really want to
compost it all
down, or anything, i just want it for mulch with extra vitamins). i
watered
it, it's not dry. it's mostly straw, though, it's not a pile of
manure by
any means.

I thought about this question overnight and it's a bit hard to answer
because it's a matter of being able to
see what it looks like. Having said that, what I think I'd do is to
try to start the rotting process by watering it and turning it a few
times. If that worked OK, I'd then give it a few weeks at least (3 or
more depending on how it's going) before I spread it. I'd spread it
cautiously away from the stems of plants to begin with. And I'd water
the soil well before spreading it as if the place where you spread it
has drought stressed plants then you could still do damage resulting
from an inability to cope with rich food whilst in poor condition.