How high can a chicken jump?

[Abbey Road Girl]

My back garden was trashed by my four lovely Pepperpots not long after I got them and their Cube last April. (Good riddance to the bindweed! )

 

I am trying to redesign it so that there will be some garden for me (flowers growing over an arch and on top of a coal store) and some garden for them. The garden for them will be anything that they can peck at without destroying. For example, I have taken excess raspberry canes from my allotment and planted them along a fence, the idea being that my girlies can peck away (when the plants have been established and protected thanks to the Omlet netting) without destroying the upper parts.

 

My biggest problem (as far as I know ) is that I have no idea, even though I've looked at various Omlet forums, how and on what do I use chicken poo?

 

Because I'm under time pressure, I haven't really got up to speed on composting. I have a bin on my (half) allotment but so far almost all organic waste goes straight into the council's green bin.

 

I know that the chickens will deposit where they will in my back garden and I just have to hope that things will survive the impact.

 

I have heard that the poo can be put straight onto veggie beds, but it seems scary. I have some rose bushes that might like the acidic nature of the poo--but how much can they take? What about blueberries?

 

Probably the safest use is incorporating it into compost and letting it rot down. But how long does that take?

 

I have some in a black bin bag that's a few months old, how dangerous is it?

 

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I'd be very grateful for any advice!

[Matthew]

chicken poo is pretty 'hot' in acidic terms... I would never add it straight to anywhere that would mean it was in contact with any plant above or below the ground

 

It is a fantastic compost accelerator and if you add it to your compost heap it'll be usable within 6 months along with anything else you put in there if its in a good heap and gets appropriately warm

[moochoo]

I've found that putting chicken manure into bin bags and leaving them open in a sunny spot in your garden gives you great fertiliser in about 6 weeks. It gets full of worms too!

I wouldn't use it straight away, leave it until after the summer and then dig it in.

You can also make a liquid feed by putting chicken poo in a mesh bag and soaking it in a bucket of water for a week, I use this throughout the summer as a liquid feed.

[Snowy]

Before I realised you shouldn't put chicken poo straight onto anything green, I did exactly that. I mulched my entire flower beds with the mixed aubiose and poo from their run. Surprisingly, it hasn't killed much off! Lots of stuff is still growing through it, and looking very green and lush I might add! I have yet to see if I get any flowers - but at least it hasn't all been killed off.

[Abbey Road Girl]

Thank you all very much for the advice and suggestions. Very very helpful! Will take up both the long term composting advice and "instant" liquid feed idea.

 

Happy spring, everyone.