Make Hot compost By layering the pile manure, straw, manure etc, it creates heat in the centre. This heat is very important as it kills off bacteria present. Using a thermometer, check the temperature of the centre of the pile every day. It will sit at around 40 degrees for four or five days and increase to 55 degrees.
Collect manure and bedding.
Chicken owners normally use bedding such as shavings, sawdust, dry leaves, or straw to provide a dry cushion for chickens and to control odor and pests. The coop bedding can be collected with the manure and dumped into a composting bin.
The answer is to use it as a soil amendment or fertilizer. However, raw chicken manure can burn and damage plants. It should be composted or aged prior to use. In addition, raw manure can contain pathogens that can harm people and animals.
Many chicken keepers who don't use the deep litter method still like to use their bedding later for compost. When they remove old bedding from the coop, they add it to their compost pile. Many say their straw composts very quickly.
To start, collect the manure and substrate material and add it to your composter. Add enough water to the mixture so it feels like a wet sponge and measure the temperature daily. The plant and manure substrates should reach 60°C-72°C degrees (140°F-160°F) as they decompose.
Ideally, you want to let 'hot' chicken manure age for a minimum of 3 months, but preferably 6 months up to 1 year. If you use the hot composting method in a warmed climate or sunny area, you may only need to let the chicken manure compost age for 3 months since the manure breaks down more quickly into compost.
Poultry Litter as Fertilizer. Poultry litter is commonly used as a fertilizer on pastures and hayfields in North Georgia.
Maintaining Straw in Your Chicken Coop
If you are using a droppings management system, like droppings boards, then the straw should only need to be stirred on a weekly basis. Straw will need to be replaced about every 3 to 4 months since it will compost down and may become too saturated with droppings.
Cat litter, sand, or any other small particles
Besides, this is a very expensive option for laying down in your coop! I've seen many chicken keepers use sand in the coop. This is not a great option because it's hard to clean, unnatural for chickens, and will make the coop colder in the winter.
How often you should be cleaning a chicken coop? You should provide fresh food and fresh water every day, and you should clean the bedding out once a week or once a month(the deeper the bedding layer the less often you have to clean it out). It's best practice to do a total clean-out at least twice a year.
For most crops, a good rule of thumb is to use about one pound of chicken manure per square foot of garden space. If you have very sandy soil, you may need to use less manure, as too much can cause problems with drainage. Conversely, if your soil is very clay-based, you may need to use more manure.
Clean the Chick's Butt
Since they can't regulate their body temperature yet, your chicks might get too cold if you fully bathe them. Instead, just wet around the vent area, being especially gentle with the chick's skin. Keep the chicks warm after getting them wet!
Regardless of the type of chicken coop you have or the amount of chickens, a good cleaning schedule is a quick weekly cleaning followed by a thorough cleaning once a month. Deep top to bottom cleaning and maintenance is usually done a few times a year.
In a hot composting system, you heat chicken manure to at least 130 F for at least 15 days. The higher temperatures in such systems mean that the material breaks down more quickly and pathogens usually die at these higher temperatures too.
But, when properly composted, chicken manure is an excellent soil amendment. Compost does not have the unpleasant odor. Chicken manure compost adds organic matter back into the soil and contributes nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil.
Chicken manure is a great organic fertilizer for roses. It's an affordable and natural way to provide the nutrients that rose plants need to grow healthy and strong.
Wood shavings are an ideal material for your coop flooring. They give off a pleasant smell throughout your garden when kept inside. When pine shavings are scattered around the outside of the coop, they absorb moisture to prevent bacteria from growing and causing illnesses in your flock.
Coarse sand (also known as builder's sand, but not the finer play sand) has become increasingly popular as a flooring in the chicken coop, and it's certainly helpful in keeping the flock cool in the summer months. Easy to maintain and a boon in keeping flies away, for the small to medium sized run it's a good option.
High humidity in the coop can cause condensation and a wet environment causing these potential problems: Wet feathers that lose their ability to insulate; especially in fancy breeds (Silkies, Frizzles, etc) Icing on perches, windows, electrical outlets. Frostbite on wet combs and wattles.
Straw is one of the best materials for bedding. It has the same advantages of pine shavings and provides something for chickens to scratch and peck through. Either of these materials can be found at your local feed or farm supply store.
Although chickens can tolerate colder temperatures, it is still important to keep coops warm and dry throughout the winter to improve laying and prevent disease. Remember, chickens like it warm, but not hot!
Chicken manure is more than a fertilizer though. It is also a good soil amendment; it adds organic matter to the soil, which improves soil structure, moisture-holding, drainage capability, and aeration. Also, soil high in organic matter is less prone to erosion and retains fertilizer better.
Topdressing hay fields with manure can build soil fertility with on-farm resources and help expand acres for spreading. When manure is used as the sole source of nitrogen for a grass hay crop, other nutrient levels in the soil, specifically phosphorous and potassium may increase over time.
Both are some of the best resources of nutrients for organic crop farmers, making it easier to earn and maintain your organic certification. They both also increase your soil's water retention. However, cow manure is typically more expensive and contains fewer nutrients than chicken manure.