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A Farm of My Own:  What to do with all the poo  |
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CascadeFootHillsFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
133 Posts
Stephanie
Granite Falls
Wa.
USA
133 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 4:19:44 PM
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Hello,
Over the last 6 months we have been joined by a mini horse, 2 bunnies and 6 chickens. Can you please tell me what to do with their poop and what not to do.
My horse poop seems to make weeds when I put it in the garden area.
The bunnies poop is mixed with shavings, but I don't know if I can put poop and shavings in the soil of the garden. I have heard of some people putting bunny poo in water...?
The chicken poop is mixed with their food and some straw from their coop area. It seems like the chicken poop on the ground just goes away in the rain.
I want to use it all if I can do it right.
Please help & I need details...Thanks!
Also, can any of the poo go in the compost bin? That's another subject, but I don't know what to do with my compost bin. I put food scraps in there, no protein is what I was told. I leave the lid off so it gets moisture but I have never moved it or stirred it.
OR used it, and I want too!
Stephanie
"A cabin with plenty of food is better than a hungry castle." Irish Quote |
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jill skane
True Blue Farmgirl
853 Posts
jill lillian
stacyville
maine
USA
853 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 4:28:39 PM
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chickens make great fertilizer, I work in a garden center and there is a product call chicken doo that a lot of customers look for.
jill |
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LakeOntarioFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
933 Posts
Brenda
North Rose
NY
USA
933 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 4:30:45 PM
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Stephanie I'll tell you what I do know, which is about bunny and chicken poo.
Bunny poo can go right in the garden around your plants. I go ahead and put the shavings and all in, they do break down, but obviously you want way more poo than shavings! If you can kind of separate it that would be good. Put what's left right in your compost.
Chicken poo cannot go right in the garden, it will burn your plants! We just put it all, poo, any food that's in there and shavings/straw in the compost. By next spring it will all be ready to use.
I know you can make a compost "tea" with both chicken and bunny poo, but I am not sure how to do it, no time this year.
I don't know about horse manure, but I do know it has to age, and should probably be in a separate pile of it's own- anyone can correct me on that!
The compost does have to be stirred, it can't be too wet or too dry, and it needs some green matter, and some brown matter. I always think of those as living things and dead things. It will eventually work it's way down into beautiful dirt for you to use next year on your garden!
Brenda
FarmGirl # 711
"If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down. "~ Mary Pickford
http://theviewfromhere-brenda.blogspot.com/ |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 5:44:44 PM
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horse manure will sprout alot of un-wanted plants in your garden, so, what you do is keep it seperate, and let it cook for a year, cover with heavy black plastic and turn it every so often, when its completly dried, in about a year, depending on the size of the pile, slowly mix it into your compost and your garden will love you.
I compost my rabbit and chicken manure and any and all shavings straw or feed right along with it.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 8:57:41 PM
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To make compost tea you put the manure in a pillow case and tie it up real good and closed. Drop it in a barrel or large bucket. Fill with water and let cook in the sun. If you can cover it with clear plastic that's better, but not neccissary. Stir as often as you get near the stuff, at least once a day. After about 3 days it should be good and dark. Mix the tea with 3 parts water and 1 part tea. It can then be put directly on the plants. You can make it with any kind of manure. I would think that a mix of manures would be best. I am blending horse, rabbit, chicken, and throwin in a little fish meal for good measure. I am even thinkin of goin to my aunts for goat and cow to add into the mix. I think the more the merrier!
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 10:51:31 PM
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Everyone has already given you all the answers I would have given. Goat sheep and rabbit manure are the only ones I put directly on the garden. You can compost any poop...and the way angela described making manure tea is exactly how I do it.
Have fun!
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Sarahpauline
True Blue Farmgirl
672 Posts
sarah
Ringgold
GA
USA
672 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 10:54:37 PM
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I compost all our animal dirty bedding and horse poop in a big muck heap. It will sprout a bit, grow some mushrooms. Let it hang out, and start taking from the pile you started at after a year or so, then youve got great soil.. If I were you I would put what you have right in the compost pile. I have 3 full sized horses at home. Thats a lot of poo.
Obviously you dont want to compost manure from cats or dogs.
fat people are harder to kidnap.
www.SarahPauline.com
www.AbraxasBaroque.com
www.whimsyscents.com
www.etsy.com/shop/daltonfabrics |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2010 : 12:04:37 AM
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I blend soiled chicken bedding and poo with grass clippings in four 3' x 4' compost bins made from recycled wood pallets. Mix it up really well with the tines of your hay fork so the grass clippings don't mat together. Within an hour it will start to heat up and by the next day it's steaming hot! We jokingly call it "building the bomb"! In a week give it a good stir and make sure it's moist (not wet). I can produce 2 to 3 yards of top quality compost a month when I'm on the ball and pay attention to the bins.
Di |
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FG Vicki
Farmgirl in Training
27 Posts
Vicki M
Etna
CA
USA
27 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2010 : 11:40:10 AM
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Poo is one of my favorite subjects, I love it.. We are in our dream homestead now and only the 2nd year of our new and forever garden.. The soil is awful. So we have been adding poo. Horse poo is not hot, hence the weeds , but if you use it like a mulch it keeps the weeds down and then adds humus to the soil (how great is that)..I have used horse poop for year to mulch and fertilize my asparagus beds. It works great.. Chicken poo and all the straw or sawdust mixed with it are a great way to start next years beds..
Vicki
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything"
Vincent van Gogh |
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Cavalli Runner
True Blue Farmgirl
249 Posts
Brenda
Mercer
MO
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - Jul 30 2010 : 2:40:07 PM
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This was very interesting to me!
We just moved to our dream farm in March (well, we hope it will someday be our dream farm...it is old and run down, but the bones are here).
So far we have one horse, 5 sheep, a donkey, and several different fowl of different types...mainly laying hens and a few guinea keets.
We did not put in a garden this year, as we were still trying to settle in and clear lots of trash and junky old stuff (a few treasures were found, but mostly junk). However, we plan to put one in next year. I am just putting all the poo from the sheep and horse in a pile, I throw in any scraps that the animals won't eat (coffee grounds, egg shells, etc.). I am hoping that, by next year's garden season, I will have black gold!
I have heard of the tea...thanks for info on how to make it.
Happy Farming!
Brenda Larson
You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.
http://cavallirunfarm.blogspot.com/ |
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homsteddinmom
True Blue Farmgirl
441 Posts
Brandee
bullard
tx
USA
441 Posts |
Posted - Aug 12 2010 : 07:13:13 AM
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I would put all the bunny poo and shavings into the garden. We have 200 rabbits and we put it all in the garden, poo shavings and hay!
Homesteading Mom in East Texas. Raising chickens, Rabbits and goats here on my farm! |
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BarefootGoatGirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1495 Posts
Corrine
North Carolina
USA
1495 Posts |
Posted - Aug 12 2010 : 07:23:45 AM
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everybody here has great ideas and perfect info, but i did want to add one thought of my own. i have found that a compost pile is much easier to deal with than a bin. i stick 3 t-posts into the ground in a triangle and run mesh fencing around them, leaving oneside free to open and close. then i just start piling it in. sometimes i don't even get around to turning it, but it does great. i just toss the new stuff off to the side, take what i need of the old composted matter and then replace the top.
http://www.alittlebitofred.webs.com/ |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 13 2010 : 10:11:49 AM
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I started putting the goat and chicken manure in my cold frame. The chickens had been rooting around in there and I just got to thinking they could do all the work for me. It's solid on all four sides so it's not going anywhere. And by next summer I sould have some really good soil to use. Chickens are great.
I have only 2 goats now. I have been getting a 5 gallon bucket of poop about every other day from them. And that;s from just about a 10 square foor area where they wait to come into the milk room. And they are only there a few hours at the most. That's a lotta poop! And I need to go rake up the cow manure too. I should be good on the manure compost.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Beverley
True Blue Farmgirl
2707 Posts
Beverley
atlanta
Michigan
USA
2707 Posts |
Posted - Aug 27 2010 : 9:01:17 PM
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most everybody answered everything already. but you can compost it all and have great dirt next year. rabbit poop is the only one you can put right on flowers or veggies. but don't put dog poop in the compost if you have any. they are not vegetarians and the protein is to much.
Folks will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog....Charles F. Doran
beverley baggett Beverley with an extra E...
http://bevsdoggies.googlepages.com/ |
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pleasantvalleyfarm1
Farmgirl at Heart
6 Posts
Beckyann
Tillamook
oregon
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - Mar 26 2011 : 9:50:33 PM
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I sell our chicken poo for $7.00 and I fill up the chicken feed bags. Boy does it go fast. I list it on Craiglist and I am richer. It is the best fertilizer for all your garden needs.I once used it along my fence line to kill the grass (cause the chicken manure was HOT) all it did was grow lush thick pretty grass! lol Joke was on me! It is actually better to use chicken manure when it is around 6 months old. Recycle it, people want it.
new farmgirl sisterhood # 2868
Farmgirl Forever! |
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batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 05:37:38 AM
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just a note on the rabbit poo/shavings...make sure the shavings aren't cedar that go right into your garden...if pine shaving they are safe for everything...cedar like the chicken poo has to have a set time out to leach out the cedar oils that can kill your plants....The reason chicken poo has to have a cure time is the urine/poo is together not separate like the bunny & horse poo. bunny poo is the best as it can be used right then & there as with the others they are too 'hot' & have to either be heated (under a tarp) or set out in the weather for a season or so. The tea idea is wonderful & like Beckyann with her chicken poo you can make it up & sell it as organic tea to others.....if you are short on area...mix your horse & chicken poo together to cure as it will help the chicken poo break down faster. so instead of waiting a year or more for it & the hay/bedding to break down you actually can get it to break down faster with the horse poo. plus then you get the benefits of both together. You can also make the tea with the chicken poo right then & there when you collect the chicken poo...with its bedding & all....let it sit a week or so but remember it will need extra delusion of water before using....sorta of the 1/2 chicken poo tea & 1/2 fresh water in a gallon jug....Don't ask me how I know all about the uses of poo!!!!!...lol...tooo much time on my hands...:) Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
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therealshari
True Blue Farmgirl
235 Posts
Shari
Beryl
UT
USA
235 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 08:40:41 AM
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I'll add a couple things here.
We're applying to become Certified Organic, and the regulations for us regarding poo is that no poo can be placed directly in the garden if the edible portions of the plants will touch the dirt within 120 days of harvest. You figure the dates as from the day you till it in (spring) to the first expected harvest date. For plants where the edible portion does not touch the ground, the rule is 90 days. This applies to any uncomposted manure. That includes the stuff that is piled and not turned.
We have to measure our compost so that it has the "right mix" to make it get hot. That's called the C:N ratio. To save tearing your hair out, think of it this way... it's like a recipe. Your bunny poo with shavings, and the other poo's with bedding will probably come close.
You should measure it with a thermometer. Right now, I'm just using a regular "insta read", but will be buying a bigger one. The 6 inch long probe doesn't get to the middle of the pile. You want your temps to come up to at least 130 degrees for 3 days in a row.
Give me time, and I'll get some stuff posted on our blogs. I am the poo-mistress on our farm.
Shari Thomas, back after a 2 year break for heart issues. Ready to get on with life now.Four Country Gals |
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Cibola
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Remi
Ellensburg
Washington
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2011 : 7:59:21 PM
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I am doing my first time to raise urban chickens. I have purchased 4 laying hens and am so excited to begin this adventure. I will be building them their nesting boxes and making a chicken coop. Wish me luck!
Farmgirl: cibola
"When you get to the end of your rope, you tie a knot and hang on." |
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katmom
True Blue Farmgirl
17161 Posts
Grace
WACAL Gal
WashCalif.
USA
17161 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2011 : 8:43:44 PM
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who'd a thought 'poo' could 'spread' such joy? lol!.....
I am going to try alpaca poo in my garden this year.....with a little goat poo tossed in for good measure!
>^..^<
Happiness is being a katmom.
"Is it time for my Dirt Manicure yet!"
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://www.graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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Cavalli Runner
True Blue Farmgirl
249 Posts
Brenda
Mercer
MO
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2011 : 04:39:42 AM
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This will be our first year putting in a garden on our new farm. We found a bunch of old tractor tires so we are going to try "raised bed, tractor tire lasagna" gardening! The "lasagne" being a yaer of chicken poo (mixed with wood chips), a layer of sheep poo (mixed with hay), then a layer of soil mixed with horse poo! Then, for those things we want mulch over top of (like strawberries) we'll put another layer of hay (mixed with sheep poo). It's great having lots of poo! Who knew?
Happy Farming!
Brenda Larson
You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving.
http://cavallirunfarm.blogspot.com/ |
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A Farm of My Own: What to do with all the poo |
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What to do with all the poo
