# Poultry Waste and Pine Shavings



## enggass (Nov 23, 2011)

How long should I let chicken poo mixed with pine shavings from the coop compost before it is viable for use in the garden?


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

enggass said:


> How long should I let chicken poo mixed with pine shavings from the coop compost before it is viable for use in the garden?


 
We pile ours outside and let it sit at least 1 year, sometimes more. Chicken manure is extremely high in nitrogen and can be damaging, so it's best to let it compost down.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

We put ours on straight to the garden in the spring and till it in well. The wood chips need nitrogen to decompose and the chicken litter provides it. It's really, really helps my sandy soil. 

I think we might need to qualfiy how many chickens and how much wood chips. Mine usually has more chips than pooh. A lady from the Philippines told me that as long as it was dry you could add the chicken manure straight. I can't make myself do that.


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2012)

Mine go straight into the garden as well.

BUT, what I use them around depends on when the shavings are spread and what the harvest date of the vegetables will be and whether it's eaten raw or not. Sweet potatoes may get a thick layer of shavings/manure tilled in the day before I plant since it's going to be three to four months before they are harvested and they are only eaten cooked.

Salad fixings and other vegetables with short growing seasons that are eaten raw would not get any poultry manure at all. They would be planted where the sweet potatoes had been so that it would be at least four months between the time of the manure application and the time of harvest.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

We clean our coop and house out just before winter and let it set through the winter and then spread it and till it in in the spring. The only thing we put it directly on is our corn, with that we make a manure tea.


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## CountryCabin (Mar 8, 2007)

I do deep litter in my coops so they get cleaned out spring and fall.
In fall it goes right in the garden beds, sits all winter long. Then when gardening time is near, I just rake in it into the existing soil.

Spring it gets put into new beds or towards the outer sides of existing beds as its mostly composed already over winter. They do keep it pretty well mixed up.

If I get to much, then its a good reason to make another bed.  
I just dump it (over cardboard) where I want to make the new bed. 
Take soil out of another bed to add on top, then add more fresher goodies to the older beds and rake in.

Never had a burn problem in all the yrs I have done that.

Good luck with yours.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

Ours goes directly into the garden, too. Only exception is if I don't have somewhere to put it at the time, then I'll dump it in the compost, but that's not often.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I also have sandy soil, which might make a difference.


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