Chicken droppings as fertilizer
A rich harvest always directly depends on the condition of the soil. Today, when the stores are full of products of dubious chemical composition, organic feeding has become very popular, and chicken manure as a fertilizer is in the leading positions. Each owner strives to make his farm waste-free, especially when he begins to breed chickens. Making the most of all the products obtained, including fertilizer from chicken manure, is the key to a successful and productive economy.
Chicken droppings as fertilizer
Benefits for plants
The chemical composition of chicken manure includes all the necessary micro- and macroelements for the full life of plants. In the composition of fertile soil, the concentration of organic matter should be at least 60%. Chicken manure has a high content of iron, calcium, potassium permanganate, sulfur, zinc, copper and boron salts. Elements such as molybdenum and cobalt are especially highly appreciated in the composition.
Fertilizer from fresh chicken manure has a number of advantages, which made it the most popular today:
- easy solubility in liquid;
- improving the structural composition of the soil;
- the ability to have a beneficial effect on the soil for 3 years;
- easy digestibility of the composition by the root system;
- enrichment of the earth with beneficial microorganisms - worms, which also have a positive effect on the condition of the soil, passing it through themselves.
What can be used for
With all the usefulness of organic matter, it is necessary to clearly understand how to fertilize the garden with chicken droppings and in what dosages to use it. Not every plant will grow better with such feeding. For example, some types of vegetables can change their taste characteristics. A small amount of chicken droppings can make the beets sweeter, but if you overdo it, the root vegetable will become dense and wiry.
Feeding from chicken droppings is best taken by nightshade plants: bell peppers, eggplants and others. It is recommended to fertilize them with organic matter at the beginning of the growing season, in the spring. You cannot feed the plants after the formation of the ovary, otherwise the fruits will ripen for a long time. Melons, cucumbers and cabbage are excellent organic. You can significantly improve the taste of strawberries if feeding with chicken droppings is done constantly.
Fruit trees and shrubs need feeding 2 times during the whole season. If you put fertilizer in the pits when planting plants, you can provide them with useful substances for at least two years.
Fertilize onions and garlic before growing. If you do this later, the ground part will grow, and the root crop will not gain mass.
Advantages and disadvantages
Only by studying all the information on how to use chicken manure in the country, you can get the highest yield possible.The use of chicken manure has both advantages and disadvantages. Among the obvious advantages are:
- accelerated growth process;
- improving the structural composition of the soil;
- improving the quality of the crop;
- wireworm protection.
Incorrect processing of real chicken manure can lead to the loss of some plants, vegetables and fruit trees, as a result of the dissolution of the root system under the influence of salts. Excessive fertilization of root crops slows down the growth of the underground part, and the above-ground, on the contrary, accelerates, as a result of which one tops can be obtained. Almost all chickens are not resistant to infection with worms, therefore, after such fertilization, the risk of infection increases. salmonellosis or other infectious diseases.
Organic preparation
Before applying fertilizer from chicken manure, it must be properly collected and stored. In winter, chickens in the poultry house are kept on a solid bedding, it is advisable to use sawdust for this purpose. In the spring, bird droppings are removed from the hen house and used as fertilizer along with sawdust. When chickens are kept closed in cage batteries, droppings are removed from the trays every day.
When harvesting organic matter, you should strictly follow the safety rules in order to avoid poisoning with ammonia vapors. The bad smell of feces is caused by the decomposition of certain substances that can cause an infectious disease in a person. In addition, you need to protect yourself from infection with helminths. To collect the droppings, you will need protective clothing:
- respirator;
- rubber gloves;
- the most closed clothing.
At the end of the procedure, the entire instrument must be treated with a disinfectant. Clothes should be washed and ironed after drying. The excrement is added to compost or dried. If you plan to use feces immediately after collection, then make an infusion of chicken droppings or bring it directly into the ground.
Granular organic blend is harvested according to the same principle, and then packaged in packs. On large poultry farms, pestles are kept in long cage batteries. The process of collecting their waste products is fully automated there. After collection, the excrement is immediately sent for drying.
In what form should organic matter be
How to use chicken manure as fertilizer how to apply? litter is a highly concentrated compound, therefore it is practically not used in its pure form. Most often, an infusion is made from it. Feces collected with the litter can be applied directly to the soil. Before fertilizing the ground with diluted chicken droppings, you should figure out how to make the right fertilization and what is the optimal dosage of organic matter for certain types of plants.
The most popular organic compounds are infusion and compost. the solution is made immediately after the feces have been collected, and the plants are watered. In the form of compost, manure can be stored at home for a very long time. Often there is a litter in this composition, so before using it you need to lie down a little so that litter managed to decompose and release enzymes.
how to breed chicken droppings correctly? The solution from the litter must be diluted in the following proportions:
- take a bucket, feces and water;
- dilute the droppings with water in a ratio of 0.5: 10;
- infuse the mixture for at least 3 days, if necessary, increase the time to 5 days.
Such a product is a very concentrated product, therefore, before watering the plants, it must be diluted 1:10 with water. Dry manure in granules, just like fresh manure, should be soaked in water, and only then watering should be carried out. It is not recommended to use in concentrated form. Composting involves preliminary preparation of top dressing in the fall.
Compost is the only product that allows you to preserve fertilizer for a long time and convert food waste into useful fertilizing.It is not just about a certain number of days, but even about months. You can put food leftovers under heaps of compost, as a result, in the spring you will get an excellent means for feeding.
In order to store compost, you need to prepare a pit in advance, no more than a meter deep. In a too deep reservoir, it will not work to get good fertilizer: it will simply turn sour there, as a result, the compost will not only be unhelpful, but it can even become dangerous, its introduction into the ground is strictly contraindicated. Peat is placed at the bottom of the compost pit, and then food waste and chicken feces are laid out in layers.
How and when to use organic
The use of dung as a top dressing is widespread among the owners of private farms in which broilers are bred. The introduction of dry humus follows during the digging of the garden in the fall, when the entire crop has already been harvested, to improve the structural composition of the soil. Strawberries, raspberries, and fruit trees are fertilized twice a year. Top dressing of apple trees, cherries, plums is done during flowering, during the period of active movement of the juice along the crown.
To fertilize the grapes, ditches are made between the rows of plants at a distance of 50 cm from the rhizomes, into which humus is laid or a solution of droppings and water is poured. Tomatoes are fertilized when planting seedlings. Humus is placed directly into the hole. Cucumbers are very fond of humus feeding. The scheme for feeding cucumbers shows how many times you need to do this, and consists of two stages:
- the first - when the leaves appear;
- the second is watering with manure solution.
For potatoes, the best option for laying top dressing in the spring, before planting. Carrots are fertilized according to the same scheme. When growing currants, fertilization with droppings is carried out according to a certain scheme. Fruiting of currants occurs 2-3 years after planting. In the first year, currant bushes are not fertilized. They begin to make droppings in the spring, and finish exactly one year later. In combination with the first two fertilizing with humus, currant bushes need to be fertilized with nitrogen.
When growing indoor plants, bird droppings are also widespread. Most often, granular droppings are used for such purposes. It needs to be soaked in water for breeding, and then water the plant or put it in its original form in a pot during planting. In order for the roses in the country to grow better, in the summer they can be watered several times with a solution from the droppings or scattered dry product next to the bush and fluff the ground.
What feces are suitable for harvesting
When preparing humus at home, you need to pay attention to the color and structure of the droppings. Parameter changes can be evidence diseases in chickens... Before starting composting, you should pay attention to the following parameters:
- the yellow color of the feces indicates abnormalities in the liver in the chicken;
- watery stools indicate poisoning or kidney failure;
- bloody feces may indicate the presence parasites, internal bleeding;
- whitish impurities in the droppings indicate liver problems;
- the droppings are colored orange after the use of certain medications, as well as in case of violations of the internal secretion organs;
- green droppings - evidence of the presence of pathogenic bacteria chlamydia or other infection in the chicken's body, or too many green vegetables in the diet;
- urea in feces speaks of improper nutrition, lack of nutrients;
- an earthy color of feces can indicate disturbances in the digestive tract or about poisoning, a dark color of droppings can be the norm in chickens if there is a box with ash in the poultry house;
- brownish diarrhea can be observed with a disease such as eimeriosis.
The normal color of feces in chickens can range from green to brown. The data described above will be evidence of the disease only in conjunction with other symptoms accompanying this or that ailment.If, in addition to changes in the structure and color of the stool, secondary signs were noted, it is necessary to urgently contact the veterinarian so that the chickens are prescribed appropriate treatment. In this case, manure cannot be used as fertilizer: it is poisonous. The color of the droppings will change depending on what the hen eats.
The video shows how to properly use chicken manure, how is the preparation and processing of organic fertilizers.
How to preserve organic matter
In order to store the compost for a long time, it is necessary to prepare a pit, where to put the rotted manure with litter. One-third of the manure heap will be from 1.5 months to six months. For long-term storage of the liquid solution, it is necessary to use large plastic drums with a hermetically sealed lid.
The longer the solution will stand for itself, the higher its concentration will be. Do not forget to dilute it with water, otherwise you can burn the rhizomes of the plants. The shelf life of compost or slurry is one year. After this time, the beneficial elements begin to lose their properties, and acidity begins to increase in the wet mixture.
Final part
From any birds on the farm, waste products remain, which can be successfully used as fertilizer for plants. So the answer to the question of whether it is possible to fertilize plants with chicken droppings is definitely yes. This is evidenced by the reviews of gardeners, who assure that chicken droppings are good enough for introducing it into the ground. The main thing in this matter is to know the peculiarities of using the product, because the rules for roses and for beets will differ markedly from each other. Now there are many videos that can help you navigate how and which plant to feed the best.
In addition to the rules for application, a person must know how to properly collect and process poultry droppings. Fresh product in its pure form is not used for soil fertilization. On its basis, an infusion is made or a compost heap is laid. Often, in parallel with fertilization with feces, additional fertilization with nitrogen is carried out. For example, in the fertilization scheme for currant bushes, the use of nitrogen is mandatory.
Among the benefits of organic matter, I would like to note that fertilizing with droppings helps to get rid of the wireworm. To do this, before planting plants, dry manure should be introduced into the soil and plowed with a walk-behind tractor. The pest will chew and move, digesting the earth and plants along the way, humus enters the stomach along with the soil, which causes poisoning in the parasite. Thus, it will turn out to improve the structure of the soil and remove the uninvited guest from the garden.
Among the minuses, there is a high risk of infection with worms and salmonellosis. During the preparation of the fertilizer, special attention should be paid to the color. With changes in the shade and structural composition of the stool, you need to contact your veterinarian and find out what is the reason. Eating a lot of greens or beets can be one of the reasons for stool staining.
It is advisable to locate compost heaps away from residential buildings and poultry yards. Firstly, the smell of feces is unlikely to be pleasant to anyone, and secondly, chickens can begin to lay eggs in a dung heap. The beneficial properties of chicken manure allow it to be widely used as a fertilizer in the garden, in a greenhouse and even in an apartment. Its correct use has a good effect on the growth and taste of many plants, so, despite the disadvantages, there is no need to give up the idea of making your production waste-free.