Chicken Poop for the Soul!

Chicken manure is great for the garden. The fresh manure has a nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium (N, P, K) of around 3-6-1. It can be applied to plants after the first few true leaves appear, and anytime after. (Fresh manure of any kind, however should never be applied closer than 6 weeks before harvest. Compost the manure completely first being sure the compost reaches at leas 150 degrees F).

By soaking the manure in water for 72 hours, a nitrogen fertilizer can be made. The water will absorb the nitrogen and then can be filtered into an applicator and applied to the soils around plants. The leftovers from this process are low in nitrogen but high in phosphorous making it ideal to apply to plants just before they flower and fruit.

Chicken manure also contains microorganisms from the genus' Pseudomonas, Proteus, Enterobacter, Bacillus and Micrococcus that digest crude oil and other petroleum products very effectively. Universities in China and Nigeria are using chicken manure to clean up contaminated soil and rivers. At Trinity Collage in Dublin, bio-mimicry principals are being used to developed nanotechnologies that utilize the natural characteristics of these microorganisms to digest petroleum products. When applied directly to contaminated soil, chicken manure has been shown to decontaminate the soil almost 30% faster than other chemical means designed for the same purpose.

As always, when working with any manure, please ware gloves and eye protection. Anyone who may be pregnant should avoid contact with chicken manure and children should always be supervised by an adult.