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I was talking to someone about adding chicken manure to my compost and they said that I shouldn't do it because it's dangerous. I had assumed that as long as I let is compost for 6 months to a year everything would be ok.

Who is right here?

bstpierre
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Abe Miessler
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2 Answers2

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You are right. It's generally accepted that chicken manure is a fine addition to compost, with the caveat that, as you mention, it should cure for 6-12 months. Chicken manure is high in nitrogen, and if you have a good mix of "browns", it will help the pile get hot quickly.

I regularly add small amounts of poultry manure (from about 2 dozen birds) to my pile of horse manure and stall bedding, and it makes excellent compost.

bstpierre
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http://seattletilth.org/learn/resources-1/city-chickens/compostingchickenmanure

Is a really awesome site with lots of information about the process. If you read it through you will have a much better understanding and realize the important steps in the process you should take instead of jump pouring a pile on your pile. But I do highly recommend it!

Rene
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  • Please summarize a bit more information from the site. We'd prefer the only valuable content of a post not be a link as links tend to die. – wax eagle Mar 09 '12 at 04:54