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#1
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chook manure breakdown
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. tia! kylie |
#2
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chook manure breakdown
It will vary, but I would imagine that a month should be enough if it
is mostly straw. Tish 0tterbot wrote: 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. tia! kylie |
#3
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chook manure breakdown
Just run sprinkle water over it for a week, small amounts at a time. Better
still, water the area you want to apply it to, then apply small amounts of manure, gently water the chook poo . I havent seen any on my plants die from being fed... If it heats up too much it can do, so put in small amounts, it shouldnt cause any incidents. Just dont put it too close to the plant, but within reach. Im of to do the same thing now... "Tish" wrote in message ups.com... It will vary, but I would imagine that a month should be enough if it is mostly straw. Tish 0tterbot wrote: 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. tia! kylie |
#4
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chook manure breakdown
"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. |
#5
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chook manure breakdown
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
... "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. it's certainly looking less pleasant than it did :-) 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. thank you tish, jonno, and farm. i'm not in any rush, anyway, so that's very helpful to know. i was wondering though - some bits of the manure would be older, & some quite fresh, as it's chook house rakings incl from their yard. does the poo deactivate a little anyway (in a dried condition) as it ages, or does it need to compost down a bit (with moisture)? i ask because 1: i don't know g but also 2: i got a shitload (no pun intended... well maybe) of horse manure from a neighbour, & it was the same, mixed ages (of poo, not horses ;-), but felt more confident to just start using it straight away because it's milder than chicken manure. i'm not 100% sure this was a grand plan, but for the most part it seemed absolutely fine. (the several things which came up which weren't too healthy from the beginning, i wouldn't necessarily claim it was from too-fresh manure, as our weather's been bizarre, so there have been deaths & stunted plants anyway, iyswim... but perhaps it was the wrong thing to do.) thanks for any further advice on ageing manure! kylie whose yard is being peppered with wallaby manure every night!! my kingdom for proper fences!!! |
#6
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chook manure breakdown
On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:39:45 GMT, "0tterbot" wrote:
thank you tish, jonno, and farm. i'm not in any rush, anyway, so that's very helpful to know. i was wondering though - some bits of the manure would be older, & some quite fresh, as it's chook house rakings incl from their yard. does the poo deactivate a little anyway (in a dried condition) as it ages, or does it need to compost down a bit (with moisture)? i ask because 1: i don't know g but also 2: i got a shitload (no pun intended... well maybe) of horse manure from a neighbour, & it was the same, mixed ages (of poo, not horses ;-), but felt more confident to just start using it straight away because it's milder than chicken manure. i'm not 100% sure this was a grand plan, but for the most part it seemed absolutely fine. (the several things which came up which weren't too healthy from the beginning, i wouldn't necessarily claim it was from too-fresh manure, as our weather's been bizarre, so there have been deaths & stunted plants anyway, iyswim... but perhaps it was the wrong thing to do.) thanks for any further advice on ageing manure! kylie whose yard is being peppered with wallaby manure every night!! my kingdom for proper fences!!! Hi Kylie, I, unfortunately, learned the hard way that very fresh horse manure is enough to burn plants to death - I'm the only person I know who can kill rhubarb! The main reason I've heard for composting horse poo before using it on the garden is weed seeds. Horses are not ruminants, like cattle, sheep and goats, and the horse gut processes food more quickly and less efficiently than a ruminant gut. As a result, a lot more weed seeds get through in viable condition. The heat of a well constructed compost heap is thought to be sufficient to kill any weed seeds that make it through Dobby's gut. Tish - Also fighting the good fight against marauding wallabies |
#7
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chook manure breakdown
"0tterbot" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message 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. it's certainly looking less pleasant than it did :-) LOL I got a very vivid mental picture when I read that! My mind had a very unpretty sight in it :-)) i was wondering though - some bits of the manure would be older, & some quite fresh, as it's chook house rakings incl from their yard. does the poo deactivate a little anyway (in a dried condition) as it ages, or does it need to compost down a bit (with moisture)? i ask because 1: i don't know If it's all very old and a uniform brown colour and in biggish horizontal sheets (that's how it compacts down when old) then it is OK to use like that, but you have to break it up a bit and compacted chok shit in sheets can be hard to brek up. However, if it is mixed ages - some fresh and juicy and some brown and compacted looking, then I'd turn it a bit. But also as Jonno says, you could use it very thinly and a long way from stems. Round shrubs or trees maybe, but be very cautious if you want to use it in either the veg bed or in the flower bed - maybe you could use it on corn as it's such ag ross feeder. g but also 2: i got a shitload (no pun intended... well maybe) of horse manure from a neighbour, & it was the same, mixed ages (of poo, not horses ;-), but felt more confident to just start using it straight away because it's milder than chicken manure. i'm not 100% sure this was a grand plan, but for the most part it seemed absolutely fine. (the several things which came up which weren't too healthy from the beginning, i wouldn't necessarily claim it was from too-fresh manure, as our weather's been bizarre, so there have been deaths & stunted plants anyway, iyswim... but perhaps it was the wrong thing to do.) I also get horse poop of mixed ages from a neigbour and I use it straight away. Not too close to stems and on well watered soil and I always top it with mulch. I swear by horse poop and think it is THE best manure of all time (although I have a freidn who says rabiit poop is better). I also find that I have surprisingly few weeds from the horse poop - possibly because of the mulch as seeds need light to germinate. I might get 3 oat plants and a few others each year in a bed of 70 roses which is heavily muclhed and always gets horse poop. I'd get more wind blown seeds than I get from the horse poop. |
#8
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chook manure breakdown
"Tish" wrote in message
I, unfortunately, learned the hard way that very fresh horse manure is enough to burn plants to death - I'm the only person I know who can kill rhubarb! How on earth did you do that? By that I mean what did you do with the horse poop to manage to kill rhubarb? The main reason I've heard for composting horse poo before using it on the garden is weed seeds. Horses are not ruminants, like cattle, sheep and goats, and the horse gut processes food more quickly and less efficiently than a ruminant gut. As a result, a lot more weed seeds get through in viable condition. Have you tried putting mulch on top of the poop? I find this stops most weeds. I also find that because the poop is such a wonderful soil conditioner, I now find weeding a horse pooped bed a pleasure because the soil becomes so friable and the weeds are extremely easy to remove. This wasn't the case before I started using horse poop regularly. I now find that I can pull out all weeds in the established beds in my usual gentle mornings walk around the garden. I used to hate weeding but now the horse poop treatment combined with the morning inspection tour with the coffee mug in hand is enough for all but the wild and still undeveloped parts of my garden. |
#9
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chook manure breakdown
Farm1 wrote: "Tish" wrote in message I, unfortunately, learned the hard way that very fresh horse manure is enough to burn plants to death - I'm the only person I know who can kill rhubarb! How on earth did you do that? By that I mean what did you do with the horse poop to manage to kill rhubarb? I stupidly put very fresh (green) horse poo onto the rhubarb bed. Rhubarb said "screw you" and promptly died a nasty brown, burnt death. I didn't think it was possible, but it is. Since I love rhubarb, I'm treating the replacement plants with a little more kindness! Tish |
#10
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chook manure breakdown
"Tish" wrote in message
... Hi Kylie, I, unfortunately, learned the hard way that very fresh horse manure is enough to burn plants to death - I'm the only person I know who can kill rhubarb! The main reason I've heard for composting horse poo before using it on the garden is weed seeds. Horses are not ruminants, like cattle, sheep and goats, and the horse gut processes food more quickly and less efficiently than a ruminant gut. As a result, a lot more weed seeds get through in viable condition. The heat of a well constructed compost heap is thought to be sufficient to kill any weed seeds that make it through Dobby's gut. hm. when i get my next load i'll see if i can compost some, just to see how it goes (i don't think i'm the world's best composter, quite frankly). but i really didn't have weeds from the last lot - i spread it over the potatoes & things like sheet mulch almost, & not a weed to be seen! (when i told my neighbour she seemed surprised as well - so i don't know how unusual that might be!!) my neighbour amazes me in that she has loads of horse poo & NEVER uses it! i say she's doing me a huge favour but she says i'm doing her a huge favour!! Tish - Also fighting the good fight against marauding wallabies last evening they, and the rabbits(!), were gambolling about under the trees, like in a picture book for goodness sake. it was very cute but also completely _enraging_ :-)) |
#11
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chook manure breakdown
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
... If it's all very old and a uniform brown colour and in biggish horizontal sheets (that's how it compacts down when old) then it is OK to use like that, but you have to break it up a bit and compacted chok shit in sheets can be hard to brek up. However, if it is mixed ages - some fresh and juicy and some brown and compacted looking, then I'd turn it a bit. But also as Jonno says, you could use it very thinly and a long way from stems. Round shrubs or trees maybe, but be very cautious if you want to use it in either the veg bed or in the flower bed - maybe you could use it on corn as it's such ag ross feeder. hm! well there's an idea, i can put it on the corn when it's a bit older. i haven't got "sheets" - perhaps i'm a bit of a clean freak but i rake out their house into their yard fairly often (& haven't had them all that long anyway) - & then it seems to get scratched about so much it couldn't settle anyway. still, the older bits have shrunk to little dark balls. the whole lot being a chook-yard clean up, there's fresh there as well. i'm a little dismayed at the hens' complete disregard for hygiene tbh. the way they poo in their nests is just outrageous :-) and the way they poo near the gate where i walk in - it's a bit of a minefield. ha! I also get horse poop of mixed ages from a neigbour and I use it straight away. Not too close to stems and on well watered soil and I always top it with mulch. I swear by horse poop and think it is THE best manure of all time that's encouraging! (although I have a freidn who says rabiit poop is better). I also find that I have surprisingly few weeds from the horse poop - possibly because of the mulch as seeds need light to germinate. I might get 3 oat plants and a few others each year in a bed of 70 roses which is heavily muclhed and always gets horse poop. I'd get more wind blown seeds than I get from the horse poop. i found with my first lot, the same thing. the beds which had weeds were the ones where i dug it all in & the weed seed would have been in the dirt. the beds where i spread it, no weeds at all. it's excellent. i'm very impressed so far. thanks for your help. kylie |
#12
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chook manure breakdown
"Tish" wrote in message
Farm1 wrote: "Tish" wrote in message I, unfortunately, learned the hard way that very fresh horse manure is enough to burn plants to death - I'm the only person I know who can kill rhubarb! How on earth did you do that? By that I mean what did you do with the horse poop to manage to kill rhubarb? I stupidly put very fresh (green) horse poo onto the rhubarb bed. Rhubarb said "screw you" and promptly died a nasty brown, burnt death. I didn't think it was possible, but it is. Since I love rhubarb, I'm treating the replacement plants with a little more kindness! I use very fresh horse poop all the time and have not (yet) had any problems but then I also go a bit easy in the application rate if it's very fresh (on the little and often principle) . Were the rhubarbs well watered at the time of the offense or did you just use too much? I sympathise as I also love rhubarb. |
#13
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chook manure breakdown
"0tterbot" wrote in message
"Tish" wrote in message The main reason I've heard for composting horse poo before using it on the garden is weed seeds. Horses are not ruminants, like cattle, sheep and goats, and the horse gut processes food more quickly and less efficiently than a ruminant gut. As a result, a lot more weed seeds get through in viable condition. The heat of a well constructed compost heap is thought to be sufficient to kill any weed seeds that make it through Dobby's gut. hm. when i get my next load i'll see if i can compost some, just to see how it goes (i don't think i'm the world's best composter, quite frankly). Dont' beat yourself up about not being a great composter :-)) The old traditional way of composting (bins that need turnign regularly) is for the birds IMHO. I now do lots of differnt types of composting and they all work - sheet composting, trench composting (ocassionally), tumble bins and anaerobic bins (the ones that sit on the ground opena t the bottom with a lid on top). the traditional bins are now just used as colelction points for composting material, but even if I don't get roudn to using that material in the other forms of compost, it too eventually rots down into usable 'compost'. but i really didn't have weeds from the last lot - i spread it over the potatoes & things like sheet mulch almost, & not a weed to be seen! (when i told my neighbour she seemed surprised as well - so i don't know how unusual that might be!!) It's not. I have had the same expeerience and for some years now. my neighbour amazes me in that she has loads of horse poo & NEVER uses it! i say she's doing me a huge favour but she says i'm doing her a huge favour!! I have the same situation with my neighbour. Licky for us that they don't know any different. |
#14
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chook manure breakdown
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
... it goes (i don't think i'm the world's best composter, quite frankly). Dont' beat yourself up about not being a great composter :-)) The old traditional way of composting (bins that need turnign regularly) is for the birds IMHO. I now do lots of differnt types of composting and they all work - sheet composting, trench composting (ocassionally), tumble bins and anaerobic bins (the ones that sit on the ground opena t the bottom with a lid on top). the traditional bins are now just used as colelction points for composting material, but even if I don't get roudn to using that material in the other forms of compost, it too eventually rots down into usable 'compost'. this was my thinking - it won't go to waste, it's just a question of how bloody long it might take. i am keen to get a tumbler, because that's something i know i can put the (minimal) effort into to get it right so i have my end product, such as it might be, pretty quickly & easily. tbh, i found it best when we were just burying our compostibles directly in the ground. truly! but then i got this idea that if i could make lots of loverly compost, it would be terribly useful (which is also true - hence my interest in a tumbler). i find it really hard to get bulk though - everything breaks down sooner or later, but still only leaves me with about a teaspoon of compost g. my neighbour amazes me in that she has loads of horse poo & NEVER uses it! i say she's doing me a huge favour but she says i'm doing her a huge favour!! I have the same situation with my neighbour. Licky for us that they don't know any different. true, but afaik her horse could keep the entire road in poo with no effort ;-) i am trying to turn her around about a few things... the other day i was bemoaning how sad i was that my yellow sticky traps (which i put up for these little black flies that were all over everything [midges?] but now thankfully eradicated) were beginning to catch lots of predator species - i got a little lizard, hence the conversation - hoverflies & lizards & ladybirds etc. she didn't know what hoverflies were, & so couldn't understand why i'd be distressed that i was getting so many of them. i briefly explained they're a "good bug", she said "there's no good bugs except ladybirds!!" but even so, i'm happy just to sow the seeds of thinking-about-things - what else can we do? and you never know where thinking-about-things will take a person. as long as there's lots of horse poo left for us, of course. ;-) kylie |
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