Year old bagged chicken manure

[Mickiebims]

I've been curious to the benefits of chicken manure on vegetables (Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Pole Beans, etc.). A friend of mine a work says I have 5 bags of chicken manure I bought last year but decided not to use and you can have them if you want them. So I went and got them today and am now wondering what do I do with them. I don't want to kill my garden that is growing pretty nicely but I would love to grow some huge tomatoes.

Questions:
1. Is this manure aged..? Although it is a year old it's been sealed in the bags as it was bought. Ok to use or brew tea 'as is' ?

2. I don't have an active compost bin but would be willing to start one should I buy some hay or something to mix with the chicken manure to start a nice compost pile..?

3. Please give me some opinions on using this manure on 4'x8' raised beds growing vegetables. 30 year old oak trees and newly planted landscaping shrubs, grass, etc.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,
Mick

[gumbo2176]

This bagged chicken manure is something you bought and never used this past year? If so, it can be used in your garden any time you want to use it since it was sold as ready to use when you got it. This stuff was aged before being bagged and offered for sale.

If you have a 30 year old oak tree in your yard, you surely must have tons of leaves this time of year from it. Also, living in Houston, I'm sure you've probably cut your grass at least a couple times already this year. Those leaves and grass clippings, along with your kitchen vegetable trimmings, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells etc. can all be put into a pile along with some stable waste of horse manure, straw and wood shavings to give you a good start on a compost pile for your garden. If you don't want to get stable waste, buy a few bags of manure from a nursery to get things started.

I compost in a large pile and also in bins made from free wood pallets picked up at a local lumber yard. They are free for the taking and nobody will object to your garnering a few.

[2cents]

Chicken manure, I love it for tomatoes
Always compost everything especially chicken or any other super hot manure
I've found, digging large holes for tomatoes works best putting some compost or leaves with manure in the bottom & then dirt between the plant roots & the manure mixture.
Fresh chicken manure on established tomatoes before blooming stage. I've mixed it 5:1 with Leaves/compost, but any brown compost material would work . After the tomatoes are established(at least 2 weeks after planting, I stay at least 8 inches off the plant stem, dig a semi circle around the plant 4-6 inches deep and fill this trench with the chicken manure compost and light water, then cover with 2+ inches of dirt. This is best if you have used chicken manure in this garden area before(already built up microbes).

[Mickiebims]

Big thanks for the replies and advice, much appreciated.

When you say use it in my garden any time I want, what do you mean by that.? Should I just put a little around my tomato plants as it is. As it sits ritght now it's black and wet and smells something horrible just concerns me as I don't want to kill my plants.

-Mick

This bagged chicken manure is something you bought and never used this past year? If so, it can be used in your garden any time you want to use it since it was sold as ready to use when you got it. This stuff was aged before being bagged and offered for sale.

If you have a 30 year old oak tree in your yard, you surely must have tons of leaves this time of year from it. Also, living in Houston, I'm sure you've probably cut your grass at least a couple times already this year. Those leaves and grass clippings, along with your kitchen vegetable trimmings, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells etc. can all be put into a pile along with some stable waste of horse manure, straw and wood shavings to give you a good start on a compost pile for your garden. If you don't want to get stable waste, buy a few bags of manure from a nursery to get things started.

I compost in a large pile and also in bins made from free wood pallets picked up at a local lumber yard. They are free for the taking and nobody will object to your garnering a few.

[gumbo2176]

[quote="Mickiebims"]Big thanks for the replies and advice, much appreciated.

When you say use it in my garden any time I want, what do you mean by that.? Should I just put a little around my tomato plants as it is. As it sits ritght now it's black and wet and smells something horrible just concerns me as I don't want to kill my plants.

-Mick



When you say it's wet, did the bags get wet in some way? If so, I'd dump it in an open container of some kind and let it dry out before applying it. If you are concerned about hurting your plants, don't put it directly on the plants but around the plants about 6 inches or so from the stem/stalk, and turn it into the soil.

I can't figure a reason why that stuff would be wet if you've had it for a year unless it got saturated recently. Of course, I'm assuming they bagged it dry, or at the very least, somewhat moist for use.

[Mickiebims]

You were right it was only wet where the bag had a small opening and it had gotten wet from rainwater. I opened up the bag and dumped it in my wheel barrow and it looked just fine. It's loose and soil like with a brown color, smells pretty ripe but seems just fine. I put a little around my plants and worked it into the dirt.

Today I also built two compost bins out of some old palettes and have some potting soil and dead leaves to start a compost pile. There I will add the remaining chicken manure to the pile and hopefull get some nice compost when it comes time for Fall planting.

Thanks again for all the helpful advice,
Mick