Contact | Home

how long to keep chicken manure before using on garden?

by Kim Burt
(Near Avignon, France)

I have four chickens and want to use the chicken poop+ straw for my vegetable garden. I understand you can't put manure straight onto the garden as it will burn plants, but how long do I have to keep it to rot down, and how? Should it be open to the air, in bags or what?

Thank you in advance, interesting site by the way!
Regards, Kim

Comments for how long to keep chicken manure before using on garden?

Click here to add your own comments
Jun 06, 2010
 Letting chicken manure age before using on garden
by: Megan

Chicken manure is valuable manure, but yes, you need to store it open to the air for roughly 3 months or more otherwise it is too strong for plants.
Cover it to deter flies if you need to, but allow air in and around it. Mixed with straw you can use it sooner. Then you can sprinkle it on the garden, incorporate it in when planting trees, shrubs or large perennial clumps.
When fresh it's better to add it to compost in small layers approximately 3cm thick as often as you like inbetween other materials especially carbon materials like leaves, straw and dryer garden materials.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Garden materials, soil, compost and mulch.

Back to HOME page: No Dig Vegetable Garden