[Fishyhaddock]

Can anyone tell me how long I should leave chicken manure (and in what conditions) before i can use it on the garden? At the moment it is in a plastic barrel with no lid. Is this right?

[Daveravey]

My open compost heap is full of it & i'll be leaving it to "mature" until the winter.... no foul smells to annoy the neighbours.

I'm sure i've read somewhere you can mix it with water & leave it for a couple of weeks then pour it straight on using a watering can.

[Wizard]

Since your profile tells me nothing of you or your where abouts I don't know how to advise you but your barrel needs drain holes What is in it how much room have you? Can you get 3 Euro pallats and make a compost bay and throw all your foliar waste in with the pooh as well.Tell me and We will do our best to advise you

[Fishyhaddock]

Hi there, based in the north east of scotland. Currently have no compost heap on the go but am planning to construct. As an interim solution is the chicken poop ok stored on it's own in plastic barrel? Thanks...

[valr]

Hiya Fishyhaddock    where in the NE are you? My brother lives in Boddam... nr Peterheid!
Why dont you get a compost bin off the council? I got daleks at around £8 each - bargain! I just chuck the chicken poo in with the rest - veg scraps, straw, cardboard, some grass cuttings - its great stuff! I don't see anything wrong with keeping it in a bucket on its own but I might be a bit careful with it at first - I wonder if it might be a bit strong ? 

[clydesdaleclopper]

If you want a compost bin I've got one of those black plastic ones you can have (I'm Huntly way)

[northfifeduckling]

I've kept it on a seperate heap for the first 2 years of having my birds and worked it in after 6 months. After listening to a composting talk will now add to the veg composts in thin layers as it speeds up the process of rotting. Someone told me they chuck it onto their potatoes straight from the hens without ill effects but I would not dare...

[Wizard]

Hello chaps nothing to do really with our way of making compost but have you not seen the Product in pails in the Garden Centers A well known one round here is called Rooster Some years ago the was a plant on Killingholme Aerodrome that made it .All it is is chicken pooh dried in a oven fed into a pelleter and on into a silo.The manure was then put into pails or sacks and marketed.Pure unadulterated chicken Pooh.Nothing add only the water driven off 

[northfifeduckling]

I remember it! at the time we had a cat who ate the stuff  - sorry, completely off topic  

[Fishyhaddock]

Thanks all for the advice.