# Chicken Manure



## ranger4327 (Dec 11, 2008)

Anyone have a good idea/technique for seperating chicken manure from the pine shavings? it is a shame to not be able to use it. 

:nanner:


----------



## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

Toss in a bit of dirt and compost the whole thing. The shavings will be fertilizer just as is the manure, and the effects will be longer-lasting.


----------



## SillyMe (Mar 23, 2011)

Don't you use poop boards? I almost never get any poop in the wood shavings. You can compost the wood chips with the poo in it if you have to. I use the deep litter method (6" in summer and 10" deep in winter) and only change the litter twice a year and even then the litter is pretty clean. All of the litter goes onto one of the several compost piles.


----------



## ranger4327 (Dec 11, 2008)

i use deep litter method, but never heard of the poop boards....?? can you enlighten me??


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> i use deep litter method, but never heard of the poop boards


It's just boards or trays under the roosts since that's where most of the droppings will be.

Strangely enough, you can enter "chicken poop boards" into Google Images, and get lots of good examples










If you use sand on it, you can screen out the droppings


----------



## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

I use what I call a "poop box". It's just a roost with a box built below it. My roosts are old 2 x 4's sitting on edge and they are held in place by slots created by little chunks of wood. So, the roosts come right off for easy cleaning. I take an empty feed sack, and use a metal dust pan to scoop the poop and shavings into the feed sack every month or so. Then, the bag full of goodness either goes to the compost pile or, this time of year, gets dumped into the garden. I only clean the floor of the coop maybe twice a year, and then, it's usually just because it has become too dusty, not because of manure.


----------



## Mallory (Oct 27, 2011)

You guys have such pretty chicken houses.
I might have to look into a poop board!


----------



## ranger4327 (Dec 11, 2008)

ahh ok makes perfect sense... i am not set up like that however... smaller coop with not much room for boxes underneath the roosts. and then my other problem, the hens are roosting in the nest boxes....i made them smaller and they still do it. did it since i moved them into the coop after the brooder pen.... cant seem to stop them. they dont lay in the boxes, just in a corner of the coop. uggggghhhh !!! they are happy tho, till winter sets in ;-(


----------



## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

When my little ones were starting to sleep in the boxes, I just went to the coop before they went to roost and covered all of the boxes with a big plastic bag. It only took a couple of days to discourage them.


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I have a 1' tall flip up door on the side wall under the roost where I can rake out the mess under the roost. I use shredded paper under the roost and it gets composted. The rest of the coop gets cleaned spring (composted) and fall (spread on the garden). My nest box (3 cell) hooks on the other end of the coop. I take it off when I am training new pullets to the roost....James


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> not much room for boxes underneath the roosts


It doesn't have to be complicated.

Just a piece of plywood can do the job of catching the droppings, and it's space that isn't really used anyway if you keep it just below the roosts, but above the floor.


----------



## Nong-jang John (Aug 9, 2007)

Mammabooh -- That looks like one well constructed coop! My compliments.


----------



## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

Nong-jang John said:


> Mammabooh -- That looks like one well constructed coop! My compliments.


Thanks. I told Hubby that I wanted to build a coop (I meant a shack) and he built me a 200 square foot octagonal building with a cupola.


----------



## mommathea (May 27, 2009)

mammabooh said:


> Thanks. I told Hubby that I wanted to build a coop (I meant a shack) and he built me a 200 square foot octagonal building with a cupola.


And most of us are still wishing you'd rent the guy out :happy2:


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> a 200 square foot *octagonal* building with a cupola.


I'd hate to have to figure and fit all those angles, but he sure did a FINE job


----------



## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

Please forgive me for the thread drift, but (for those who missed it the first time around) here's the old thread with pictures of our coop in progress.

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=329484&highlight=coop


----------



## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

mommathea said:


> And most of us are still wishing you'd rent the guy out :happy2:


Hee Hee...there are still MANY more projects to do around here!


----------



## PakistaniFarmer (Aug 22, 2011)

if you want for composting / fertilizer you can just use as it is , it would be more nutritious (Weird analogy for manure isnt it ? )


----------



## wildcat6 (Apr 5, 2011)

Why would you want to separate? They both will compost together nicely.


----------



## Home Harvest (Oct 10, 2006)

Back to the original post. lol I use deep litter, no dropping board. My chickens scratch the dropping into the litter where it starts to compost. I clean out 2 times a year, spring & fall. I the spring the litter goes in a pile for use as mulch in the garden. I the fall it goes straight on a bed that I feel needs more organic matter (usually a new bed).

I tried a droppings board once, but it seemed like more work than it was worth to keep it scraped clean. This is probably a minority opinion, but it's what works for me.


----------



## Guest (Nov 8, 2011)

Personally, I find dropping boards to be daft. Use the shaving and manure together. These last two years I've grown the best crop of blueberries we've ever had using nothing more than used brooder bedding. This weekend I'm going to mulch a rose bed with more of the same.


----------



## ranger4327 (Dec 11, 2008)

I was just thinking the pine shavings might add to an allready acidic soil that we have.....This is good info folks, thanks for the posts !!!


----------



## Nong-jang John (Aug 9, 2007)

>>I told Hubby that I wanted to build a coop (I meant a shack) and he built me a 200 square foot octagonal building with a cupola.<<

Mommabooh,

I'm curious: How large of a flock do you house in that coop?

(My coop is 120 square feet. At one time, I had as many as 15 hens and a rooster housed in it. Had a pronounced pecking order with the cochins at the bottom. The coop didn't look crowded, but the flock acted as if it were.)

Thanks,
John


----------



## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

Nong-jang John said:


> >>I told Hubby that I wanted to build a coop (I meant a shack) and he built me a 200 square foot octagonal building with a cupola.<<
> 
> Mommabooh,
> 
> ...


I have 22 in there right now, but there will only be 12 after this weekend. I like everyone to have way more space than they need. Also, they aren't completely free-ranged. There is a little chicken door that opens up to the now-fenced-in-pasture (the fencing wasn't up yet in the pictures I've posted). It's over a half acre and they share it with 3 goats.


----------



## Nong-jang John (Aug 9, 2007)

Thanks, Mommabooh, for the info.

Again, my compliments to you and your husband for that elegant coop. (I always admire a commitment to excellence.)

John


----------



## ranger4327 (Dec 11, 2008)

Funny, well kinda, story i must tell..... the $300 other chicken coop that i bought (and a very good deal with all the accessories) is now costing an arm and leg and FINGER...while unloading off our trailer, my wife fractured her finger and has since had surgery and a pin to fix.... shoulda stayed with the coop that i originally built and saved some money in the long run...its a nice smaller coop, but not worth all that went wrong in getting it here..... arrrghh..... will post some pics if i can ever figure it out...... :=)}


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> I was just thinking the pine shavings might add to an allready *acidic soil *that we have


Mix in a bag or two of pelletized AG lime.

It will help keep the coop dryer and odor free


----------



## Nong-jang John (Aug 9, 2007)

ranger4327 said:


> Funny, well kinda, story i must tell..... the $300 other chicken coop that i bought (and a very good deal with all the accessories) is now costing an arm and leg and FINGER...while unloading off our trailer, my wife fractured her finger and has since had surgery and a pin to fix.... shoulda stayed with the coop that i originally built and saved some money in the long run...its a nice smaller coop, but not worth all that went wrong in getting it here..... arrrghh..... will post some pics if i can ever figure it out...... :=)}


Wow. I know what you mean, though. When I built our coop five or six years ago, expenses climbed far beyond what I had anticipated. I had decided to raise the structure up off of the ground on 4x4 posts; my site is on the side of a hill and I didn't want to excavate to level the coop. Also, I figured it would be a deterrent to predators. I had the framing up and was getting a little bit cocky (no pun intended) until I slipped, fell on the floor joists and broke my tailbone. Not much one can do about a broken tailbone. So my only expense there was the delay of about a week while the pain subsided. I had projected spending about $500. Instead, I ended up dropping about 2 grand. My wife complained the coop is built better than the house. I had let the cat out of the bag ... and the honey-do, home-improvement list my wife came up with has kept me busy ever since.

Sorry, folks, for the thread drift.


----------



## TeamChaos (Sep 26, 2010)

I've used the poop/pine shaving combo in the garden directly and the plants were markedly bigger and more productive than the non-mulched ones. If I just want the poop, I soak the bedding in a bucket and scoop the wood chips off with a screen. It can get stinky and gross looking, so do it where no one will ask what you're up to. ha ha


----------



## lilachill (Apr 2, 2006)

I have a droppings pit under my winter roosts and clean it out twice a year. Since using a droppings pit the rest of the coop stays dryer and cleaner. 
The droppings are concentrated since they are not part of the usual deep litter mix up so I have a separate compost pile for chicken manure. I believe I read that the pH or salt levels can be unbalanced for garden use. When I do the clean out I usually layer the manure with dirt,clipping, leaves and straw , something to aerate it a bit, and leave it for at least a year. SInce I do not get to turning my compost piles very often I have slow piles. After a year I usuallty incorporate the aged manure into the newest compost pile.


----------

