Gardening Questions: Poop? Chicken, rabbit, or cow?

Replies: 68 Views: 459

Author	Comment
pjmerritt Gilmer, TX (Zone 7b) September 8, 2009 08:00 PM	Newby here ain't quite sure which is better. The first two are free for the asking. I have 2 beds about 10'x2' mostly sand. This summer I killed most everything. I have little of the wally world (aka wallmart) cheap soil. I like to know which would be better of the poop to mix in and should I also throw some 3 year old hay in it. I hope a fall/winter garden might produce a little more so I can actually cook something for the whole family. LOL
Terry Murfreesboro, TN (Zone 7a) September 8, 2009 08:10 PM	Here's the NPK of many manures: http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/2112.html From personal experience, I think rabbit is milder and easier to work with than chicken manure. But if it's going to over-winter and compost before being used, that might not matter much.
pjmerritt Gilmer, TX (Zone 7b) September 8, 2009 08:17 PM	Kind of like to plant this week thing like mustards, colards ,cabbage, etc.. Is there hope?
Terry Murfreesboro, TN (Zone 7a) September 8, 2009 08:57 PM	I've worked rabbit berries into the soil in my beds and planted immediately. I don't think I'd recommend it with chicken manure...it's way too "hot" and will burn the plants.
Jim41 Delhi, LA September 9, 2009 02:37 AM	Chicken is super hot. Nitrogen levels have to be really high. Be careful with that or you'll burn stuff up even after it is composted. I've never used rabbit but I've heard it is really good. Cow manure needs to be composted to kill the grass seed that is in it. Use it with out it going through a good compost heat and you'll work your self to death trying to get rid of the grass. The seeds come straight through a cow. l would think that you could mix the rabbit into your beds and not have any trouble, providing you don't over do it.
dp72 Woodway, TX (Zone 8a) September 9, 2009 02:59 AM	Rabbits are vegetarian, so the risk of disease organisms is very low; chickens will eat insects and even bits of animal flesh if it's small enough. As Jim41 said, I'd work it in good before planting.
rentman Frankfort, KY (Zone 6a) September 9, 2009 09:29 AM	I have 2 breeding does and a daddy for them and have lots of rabbit poo for my garden. I mix it into the soil and had only good results. I also make tea from it and water the potted plants. Power to Rabbit POO
philsgal Middle River, MD September 9, 2009 05:19 PM	Vote for bunny poo here too. I have two house rabbits that produce enough waste with newspaper & timothy to balance out the kitchen scraps in the compost pile quite nicely. My plants are very happy so far.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) September 9, 2009 05:26 PM	Rabbit droppings are the safest of any manure to use and can be added directly into the soil at planting time. That is the least likely of all manures to burn plants or add harmful bacteria to your garden. http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1534255/rabbit_manu...
flowerjen central, NJ (Zone 6b) September 10, 2009 04:34 AM	My friend bred rabbits and would put their droppings directly into her house plants.
pjmerritt Gilmer, TX (Zone 7b) September 10, 2009 03:01 PM	Rabbit poo it is thank ya'll some much!! I let ya know how it goes..
g_whizz rosetta TASMANIA Australia October 24, 2009 04:58 AM	definately cow,cows have 2 stomachs.theres never any weed seeds in it....lately lilium growers have shyed away from animal manures,and chosen organic,because of bulb rot
pastime Waterman, IL (Zone 5a) October 24, 2009 02:27 PM	We have a poop machine in our pasture so we use horse manure.
Jim41 Delhi, LA October 25, 2009 02:41 AM	I hate to disagree with g_whizz, but cow poop is full of grass seed. The reason you grind or crip corn or oats before you feed them to a cow is because they come straight through her. Grass seed do the same thing. Take it from an old cattle man.
g_whizz rosetta TASMANIA Australia October 25, 2009 09:26 AM	thanks for that jim,you learn something new every dayand if you dont,try to learn 2 things the next day..i was only going from info old folk had told me,regarding manure.maybe they might have been talking manure.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) October 25, 2009 01:46 PM	It is because of the grass seed that you have to let cow and horse manure "cook" or age for a time...the heat generated from the breakdown of the manure kills the grass seed. On the other hand, Bunnies seem to poop pure, gentle fertilizer....lol
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 25, 2009 09:48 PM	well this is reassuring, since I just found bunny poop in my back yard today....I believe they have made a little winter home out there.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) October 25, 2009 09:53 PM	Now if ya can just get them to poop where ya want the new bed to be.....grin
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 25, 2009 10:41 PM	right, I need to train 'em...grin
Jim41 Delhi, LA October 26, 2009 01:30 AM	I've got a picture of Lynnie potty training bunnings in my mind. Good jobbbb, girl.
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 26, 2009 01:33 AM	hahaha if I can train the kids, I could train bunnies...kids were stubborn!
Jim41 Delhi, LA October 26, 2009 01:37 AM	Mamma set I was hard to train. The other kids wet the bed, I always crawled up on the pillow.
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) October 26, 2009 01:40 AM	I bet you were a stubborn one! Jim check out my new tree...yeah, I'll have to do some pruning on it..... View Larger
SunnyBorders Aurora, ON (Zone 5a) October 26, 2009 02:18 AM	Had purchased and used packaged composted cow and sheep manure for a number of years. Have not seen grass growing from either, but have got to recognize the particular weeds that we get from them. They include wild mustard. As indicated above, the heat from a well built compost heap is supposed to kill weed seeds. The only commercially weed-free compost I've purchased here is marine compost. Believe mushroom compost, from growers, is weed free too. Don't know about chicken manure, but our lawn got red thread after a chicken feather application. Suspect rabbit dropping might be pretty disease free since was taught that a rabbit adaptation to digesting tough plant material is to eating their own feces.
pastime Waterman, IL (Zone 5a) October 26, 2009 12:04 PM	Our neighbor must have had 100 show rabbits in his barn. He'd put their manure on his garden every year. He grew the best tomatoes I ever tasted.
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) October 26, 2009 12:12 PM	Interesting read with my morning coffee and far superior to reading about slugs.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) October 26, 2009 12:23 PM	LOL Pirl....Neither one go really well with breakfast....but, wonder what form of 'organic' fertilizer and slug control the winner of the Daylily auction will use on her $1075 plants.....grin
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) October 26, 2009 12:43 PM	IF I were crazed enough to want to spend $1,075. on one item it would be fertilizer and not one plant. I enjoy the talk of manure but not slugs.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) October 26, 2009 01:05 PM	I hear ya. At least the former is beneficial and helps build up a garden, while the latter brings it down.
Jim41 Delhi, LA October 26, 2009 05:12 PM	I really like this manure thread. Had a lot of experience with it. Full of it myself to hear some folks talk. Love the tree Lynnie. Where you been hiding Pirl. We birthday folks got to stay in touch.
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) October 26, 2009 06:02 PM	Ha! Up on the rocky coast of Maine to rest before finishing autumn jobs that should have been done in summer, Jim. Loved the pumpkin decorating in Damriscotta! View Larger
daisylovn Wilmer, AL (Zone 8b) October 26, 2009 06:31 PM	Gotta love a place where people so openly discuss POO!! : )
pastime Waterman, IL (Zone 5a) October 28, 2009 01:42 PM	This is a "poopular" thread.
1lisac Liberty Hill, TX (Zone 8a) November 2, 2009 03:38 PM	I think this thread should be a sticky called "the scoop on poop". This message was edited Nov 2, 2009 9:39 AM
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 2, 2009 03:45 PM	Daisy, perhaps that is because only gardeners realize the true benefits and advantages of manure....or that so many of us are full of it....grin
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) November 2, 2009 04:23 PM	I love this thread!
cathy4 St. Louis County, MO (Zone 5a) November 2, 2009 06:56 PM	I'm posting my bi-annual request on Craiglist for bunny poop, I get fun answers, but I also find bunny poop for free. It is amazing how many people have bunnies. I put it in the gardens with the chopped leaves in the fall, in the early spring I top off the veggie garden with it. Great stuff bunny poop.
Jim41 Delhi, LA November 3, 2009 01:40 AM	An original song for cathy 4. Poopy in the morning, poopy in the evening, poopy at supper time. You can find bunny poopy, just about any time.
cathy4 St. Louis County, MO (Zone 5a) November 3, 2009 02:02 AM	haha, thanks Jim.
1lisac Liberty Hill, TX (Zone 8a) November 3, 2009 02:30 AM	I knew I had all these dang animals for a reason.
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) November 3, 2009 03:11 AM	Love your sense of poopy humor, Jim!
Jim41 Delhi, LA November 4, 2009 02:59 AM	Thanks pirl, you're a sweetheart.
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) November 4, 2009 11:45 AM	How sweet, Jim! A neighbor has chickens so I'm curious: how long does the chicken poop have to age and should I mix it with anything? Do I keep it in a closed bag, back by the compost piles, or what are the rules about it?
rentman Frankfort, KY (Zone 6a) November 4, 2009 01:31 PM	"Give chicken manure time to age by spreading fresh poultry manure over your soil and turning the dirt at the end of the growing season to allow it time to decompose over the winter. You can also try making "tea". Chicken manure fertilizer tea; sounds delicious, eh? To make fertilizer tea, scoop the chicken manure into a burlap bag. Then, throw a rock into the bag to weigh it down and place the whole thing into a 35-gallon garbage can. Fill the garbage can with water and let it sit for about three weeks. Once the three weeks are over, you will have nutrient-rich chicken manure fertilizer tea as the water becomes infused with the nutrients from the chicken manure. You can use this fertilizer tea to water your plants to give them a vitamin boost. Your plants will love you for it. Here's to bigger tomatoes! " .................................... So I would think if you just put in the garden this fall it will be ready to go in the spring. The 'tea' can be used right away.....as can Compost Tea. My Dad, when I was a kid, I am 71 now, used to just , thinly spread it along the rows of the garden, but we had no internet back then.
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) November 4, 2009 01:37 PM	Thanks, rentman. I could mix some of our compost with it and get more power to the bucket of tea. Great.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 4, 2009 02:28 PM	This thread has all the markings of SLUGS and BASIL.....grin. Those were fun, informative threads also. Jim is quite the songster, Pirl, and he plays the guitar...understand he is working on a new song..."Poo for Two"....pickin' on ya Jim, grin.
rentman Frankfort, KY (Zone 6a) November 4, 2009 03:52 PM	Now on 'House plants' POO Tea is a little (lot) smelly ... but the compost tea, (well it doesn't smell like strawberries), but it's not so bad. Yes if we could get audio uploads This would Be a POOO ... POOO site. You know , Jokes have been deleted, in the Joke form for a lot less that this....
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 4, 2009 04:20 PM	You are so right, Rentman. I guess it just depends on how you are using Poo....grin
cathy4 St. Louis County, MO (Zone 5a) November 4, 2009 04:23 PM	aww, over in composting, it is way worse than this. Talking about manure always seems to head in silly directions.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 4, 2009 04:31 PM	Those folks on composting are old hands at "Poo talk". this is Beginners POO 101, singing about it optional....grin
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) November 4, 2009 04:41 PM	Can we write a poo song? How about "Amazing Waste"? Sorry if that offends anyone. It's meant with all good intentions.
cathy4 St. Louis County, MO (Zone 5a) November 4, 2009 04:52 PM	I'm laughing out loud at that Pirl, I may never be able to keep a straight face in church again. Amazing waste, how sweet the smell..
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 4, 2009 04:58 PM	...can save a gardener like me.... I once was lost but now I've found poo will even save my tree.... Again, no offense intended
rentman Frankfort, KY (Zone 6a) November 4, 2009 05:00 PM	Amazing Waste how Sweet the smell, that comes from a wretch like MEEEE.... I once was sweet but now I smell.... I went to church...when I was a little boy. Need to get out my guitar. Now where is that pick ? Come on we need more verses... I just picked up a bale of hay to feed my rabbits................................MORE POO is a coming View Larger
rentman Frankfort, KY (Zone 6a) November 4, 2009 05:01 PM	Way to go Moon
cathy4 St. Louis County, MO (Zone 5a) November 4, 2009 05:07 PM	Rent, do you raise your rabbits for food or are they pets? I'd like to learn more about raising them, could I keep them in the greenhouse that stays warm in the winter?
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 4, 2009 05:12 PM	I smelled that poo a'coming' coming round the bin, It ain't seen the sunshine since I piled it all in.... Hit it Rentman.....lol
rentman Frankfort, KY (Zone 6a) November 4, 2009 05:25 PM	I grow tomatoes to Eat. I raise rabbits to Eat.....Yummm taste like chicken. I have two does and one buck, Adam. They are NZW, a large breed, they have 5 to 7 babies 31 days after their date with Adam... Last winter I did have them in my GH, but only because their water bottles (the metal tips) would freeze. They can handle the winter out side with little trouble. I will not put them back in the GH this winter...but will have to check their water at 3 AM, Oh what fun. From the 3 adults and their babies I get more poo than I need. I am now drying it, packing it into Plastic bags for use in the spring and to give to a friend down the road. They are live stock and need care each and every day, so I will have a 'Time Share Teen Ager' take care of them when we go on a Panama Canal Cruise Dec 10. There is a lot of info on the web about raising them and , I find they are not much trouble for what they return. PS Rabbits are quiet, not like chickens, cows. I live within the city and check the laws and the only thing I can't do is put the waist from butchering the into the garbage ????? No problem I dig a hole and into the ground they go. I remember my Dad burring fish 'garbage' that way. This message was edited Nov 4, 2009 12:37 PM The first rabbits I butchered, my daughter asked for a rabbits foot, she wanted to dry them and make key rings, I gave her 12 and now every one has a Lucky Rabbits Foot. This message was edited Nov 4, 2009 12:42 PM This message was edited Nov 4, 2009 12:42 PM
rentman Frankfort, KY (Zone 6a) November 4, 2009 05:26 PM	What happen to pjmerritt ??? he started the 'mess'
Jim41 Delhi, LA November 4, 2009 10:35 PM	Pirl, I'd mix the chicken poop with the compost. Chicken poop is hot. Dad always kept chickens. Had his roost built where he could rake them out with a hoe into 5 gal. buckets. One spring when we were planting Irish potatoes, he decided that would be a good place to use the poop. Took a turning plow and opened the rows real deep. He then put about 2 inchs of poop in, raked dirt over it and planted the taters. Course the poop went through a heat and warmed the ground up and in a few days the taters were up and going. Got about six inchs tall and the roots got down to the pure stuff, the next day all 10 rows of potatoes were dead. Don't mind if you pick at me Moon, know you got a thing for "Jims." Sure hope they don't sing "Amazing Grace" before I preach Sunday.
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) November 4, 2009 11:02 PM	They'll wonder why you have such a big grin on your face, Jim!
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 4, 2009 11:07 PM	You are so right, I do like my Jims....grin I hope they don't either....I can just see you having to excuse yourself to the congregation........like to hear your explanation though....lol Rentman, I think pjmerrit wanted an answer and when he got that answer he went off to shovel a little poo. Either that or he was so impressed by the wealth of information, he became a subscriber and joined the Compost Forum.....but I could be mistaken......grin
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) November 5, 2009 12:43 AM	Jim this reminds me of a funny story at work...I have to get the kids to bed but I'll be back to tell you.....
Jim41 Delhi, LA November 6, 2009 12:39 AM	On pins and needles, Lynnie. You should have seen me the time I was marrying a young couple and asked the man, "Will you have this woman to be your lawfully bedded wife." Hard to over come that.
pirl Southold, NY (Zone 7a) November 6, 2009 01:14 AM	For a preacher you have a wee touch of the devil!
cathy4 St. Louis County, MO (Zone 5a) November 6, 2009 01:41 AM	I'm guessing his answer was YES! I love fun weddings.
Jim41 Delhi, LA November 6, 2009 05:17 AM	I said, "I think I said that wrong." He said, "I kinda like it." Even the bride had a smile on her face. Did I mention the wedding was in a barn.
Lynnie6868 (Zone 5b) November 6, 2009 10:23 AM	were the hay bales full of funny tomatoes?
Jim41 Delhi, LA November 6, 2009 09:01 PM	The only fruit I saw was "road apples."

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