# pasture and chicken poop



## Production Acres (Aug 26, 2009)

Chicken litter is a good fertilizer. You need to make SURE that any manure you spread on fields with animals in them has been composted thouroughly.


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## lilkitty90 (Nov 11, 2009)

how do i know it is composted correctly?


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## Production Acres (Aug 26, 2009)

get some that has been stacked for 1-2 years - do not get it straight out of the chicken house.


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

We don't let ours sit for years before spreading it, but once the pile looks like dirt, we spread it. I've noticed that if it's still a little too raw, the horses stay away. 

If you don't compost chicken manure, it's so hot it will actually burn (chemical burn) your pasture and can kill out the grass. Fortunately, it's this same hotness that makes it compost quickly...


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## Production Acres (Aug 26, 2009)

dee said:


> If you don't compost chicken manure, it's so hot it will actually burn (chemical burn) your pasture and can kill out the grass. ...


 

Absolutly ABSURD!!!!!!!
We have spread thousands of truckloads of chicken litter directly from the coop directly onto hay fields with no ill effects. You can spread urea 46-0-0 directly onto grass with no ill effect. You can stream liquid nitrogen directly onto grass with no real ill effect.

Chicken litter is about 50-50-50 per ton of material and only about 40% of that is available the first YEAR. Spreading 4 tons per acre only puts down 80 units of N the first year!

The only reason to wait to spread the litter is that the poster did not want to remove the animals from the field she was spreading on and you want the pathogens cooked out of the litter such that a horse doesn't eat a half decomposed chicken.


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

Perhaps I should mention that we aren't using litter, it's pure stuff, and very hot. It _will_ kill out garden plants and _can_ kill pasture grasses if it's not treated properly. I am not trying to be rude about it, but do urge caution. 

Production, I'm sure you know what you are talking about, but your's isn't the only valid opinion - please stop belittling those who's opinions do not correlate with your view of your world...


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## Production Acres (Aug 26, 2009)

dee said:


> If you don't compost chicken manure, it's so hot it will actually burn (chemical burn) your pasture and can kill out the grass. .


 
This is a statement of Fact! This is not a statement that "I believe chicken litter is hot" You stated "It will chemical burn your pasture". I am not belittling you. You are just wrong! Now maybe you don't know proper application rates - especially in your garden; however, that does not change the FACT that properly applied, chicken manure will NOT chemically burn your pasture any more than urea will.

Kinda like saying omolene 300 will founder a horse. Yep, probably could if you immediatly started feeding a 900lb horse 25# per day, but at proper application rates, it is a very nice feed.


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