Chicken manure is rich in nutrients. Many backyard poultry hobbyists collect their chickens' manure to make fertilizer. Individuals who do not raise chickens can often obtain chicken manure from local farmers or a local feed store. Learn make cheap fertilizer from chicken manure to improve the productivity of your garden and enrich and amend your soil. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Research the nutritional properties of chicken manure. This may take some small calculations in order to find the nitrogen content of the chicken manure. Several websites, such as poultryOne.com, offer resources to calculate the mineral content of chicken manure (link in the Resources section).
2. Determine how you plan to use chicken manure as fertilizer and soil amendments. The three most popular methods of turning chicken manure into garden fertilizer includes manure tea, spreading manure directly on the soil, and adding chicken manure to compost.
3. Make chicken manure fertilizer tea. Scoop fresh chicken manure into a burlap bag (may be used or new). Weight the burlap bag with a heavy rock and place in a 35-gallon plastic or metal garbage can. Fill the garbage can with water. Let the manure/water mixture to sit undisturbed for 3-4 weeks. This allows the water to become infused with the nutrients from the chicken manure. Use the water to water your plants, lawn and garden to water and feed your plants simultaneously.
4. Spread chicken manure directly on your soil for another method of fertilization. Approximately 45 pounds of chicken manure is sufficient to fertilize 100 square feet of your lawn or garden. Do not use fresh chicken manure, as the high nitrogen content can "burn" your plants. Instead, let the chicken manure sit in a pile for several weeks before applying it to your soil.
5. Mix fresh chicken manure into your compost pile for a third method of fertilization. This simultaneously ages the chicken manure to make it safe for your plants, while also adding nutrients to your compost. Use the compost as usual for an extra-rich fertilizer and soil amendment.
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