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chicken poop as lawn fertilizer

 
                                  
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Can I use real chicken poop as lawn fertilizer instead of Ringer?  I can get some a lot cheaper than the Ringer's.  Would it burn the lawn? 
 
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Well ... yes, you can use chicken poop .... although it works a bit differently. 

How aged is it?

 
                                  
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Its fresh.  The farm has some poop sitting out in bins or if I want more I can shovel it out of the houses. 
 
paul wheaton
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The trick is to not put it on too thick.  Chicken manure is more likely to kill plants than any other manure I'm aware of.  This is due to it being very "hot" (high in nitrogen).  Since grass is a nitrogen pig, it can cope better than most plants.  But I would still wanna go easy on it.
 
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Perhaps compost it, at least a little bit, with some carbons first to cool it off. That way you can spread your fertilizer and OM all in one step. The carbons should lock up some N and release it over time. Mix the manure and carbons, let them sit a day or two then spread.
 
                                  
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jeremiah bailey wrote:
Perhaps compost it, at least a little bit, with some carbons first to cool it off. That way you can spread your fertilizer and OM all in one step. The carbons should lock up some N and release it over time. Mix the manure and carbons, let them sit a day or two then spread.



That's what I do. It heats up the compost really well too
 
paul wheaton
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Compost is certainly better.  But more work. 

 
                                  
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paul wheaton wrote:
Compost is certainly better.  But more work. 




Agreed, but well worth it.
 
jeremiah bailey
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I think it is a minimal amount of work to stabilize a hot fertilizer. I'm not saying building a pile and turning it a bunch of times until done. I'm saying mix it well with some carbons, wait 3-4 days, then spread. If the needed carbons are unavailable, just spread sparingly as Paul initially suggested. The result should be a still fairly hot manure, with some of its N stored in carbon for release later. Don't overdo the carbons, or they might keep taking up N after you lay the compost.
 
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I say spread thinly and water well.  Sould be lovely and fast.
 
                                  
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Chicken poop is very acid, so unless you have a problem with a too alkaline soil, it would be better to not use it, or to use it very sparingly.
Chicken is very good on soil you grow plants hat like a more acid soil, such as Azaleas.
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