Bird droppings as fertilizer: properties and rules of application

Bird droppings are one of the best organic fertilizers... But its application requires the utmost care. Exceeding the dose, improper application can do more harm to the plant than good.

Content:

• Poultry manure: properties and benefits of fertilization
• How to properly prepare and store fertilizer
• Preparation and use of liquid fertilizer
• Using dry bird droppings
• For which plants and vegetables is bird droppings contraindicated?

Poultry manure: properties and benefits of fertilization

For a long time, poultry manure has been used to fertilize plants and improve soil quality. It contains a large number of elements useful for plants. These are cobalt, boron, zinc, sulfur, magnesium. In addition, there are various acids, phenols and sulfides. In this case, phosphorus compounds do not emit phosphates. Its main advantages:

1. Poultry manure is a pure organic fertilizer.
2. Useful elements are in a form convenient for soil and plants.
3. The substance dissolves quickly in water.
4. Easy to digest.
5. It does not have an unpleasant odor because it does not contain ammonia.
6. Has a prolonged action. He continues to operate for three years after the introduction.
7. Can be applied on any soil.
8. The undiluted solution can be stored all summer.
9. The amount of droppings is equal to the weight of the feed that the chickens eat.
10. Chicken owners get fertilizer practically free of charge.

The use of chicken manure improves the condition of the soil, its chemical composition, and promotes the reproduction of beneficial bacteria. It increases the yield. The percentage of dry matter in fruits and roots is increased by 10 percent. He makes beets sweeter. Increases plant resistance to disease.

React positively to feeding with a solution of chicken manure pepper, zucchini and nightshades: tomato, potato, eggplant... You can feed them 2 times per season. It is useful for most trees and shrubs. Bird droppings cannot replace all fertilizers. So, potassium is needed for root crops, which is not there. It can be applied together with chicken manure at the rate of 100 g of potassium chloride per 1 kg of manure.

How to properly prepare and store fertilizer

Fertilizers made from poultry manure must be applied very carefully. Like any potent substance, it can be "medicine" or "poison." It all depends on the dose and method of administration. How to properly prepare a fertilizer to be beneficial?

Chicken droppings are used in different forms:

• Fresh
• Dry
• Overripe

Most often, bird droppings are used, diluted with water and fermented. When storing fresh manure in winter, it loses many useful substances, including almost half of the nitrogen. Chicken manure can be harvested by drying it. Dry droppings are put in boxes or bags and stored in a well-ventilated room.

If your own chickens are not on the farm, you can buy ready-made dried chicken in granules.

They retain all useful properties and are used for feeding, planting plants, and for growing seedlings. You need to apply them, guided by the instructions on the package.The disadvantage of such fertilization, many gardeners believe that they do not know what they fed the chickens giving manure. Therefore, it is difficult to establish the acidity level of the fertilizer. To find it out, you can use a litmus test.

Preparation and use of liquid fertilizer

There are several known methods for preparing liquid fertilizer from chicken manure:

1. You can breed fresh droppings in the proportion: 1 part manure to 15 parts water. During fermentation, a not very pleasant smell will be released. Therefore, the dishes in which the fermentation process takes place is covered. After the solution darkens, dilute with water again. If the composition is more concentrated, the plants may get burned.
2. One part of the droppings is mixed with part of the water in an old bucket. Cover with foil or lid. Install in a warm place. Stir occasionally. The solution ferments in the bucket for several days, usually a week. Dilute with water before use. Use 1 liter of the resulting liquid per bucket of water. Trees and some flowers are watered with this solution. For watering garden crops, the concentration is made even less.
3. A part of fresh or dry chicken manure is poured into a barrel and diluted with 4 parts of water. Stir thoroughly, cover to prevent pets from falling there, and leave in a warm place for several days. The fermentation process will begin in the barrel. You can insist on it for a week or several days. Before use, dilute 0.5 liters of slurry in a bucket of water. Thus, 1 part of the solution will account for 15 or 20 parts of water. The main thing is not to make a solution of strong concentration. To make sure it's cooked properly, look at the color of the water in the bucket. It should be like a weak tea in color.

Plants are fed only on wet soil. If it is dry, water it or wait for rain. Pour half a liter of solution under small plants at a distance of 10 cm from the trunk. After all the plants have been processed, watered again, using a hose. If the area to be treated is large, you can water it immediately after fertilizing.

Processing is carried out in the early morning or evening. Avoid watering in the heat. After the water enters the ground, loosen the soil, or mulch plot. For summer feeding of bushes and trees, a solution is prepared from 1 part of droppings and 10 parts of water. Insist for at least 2 days. Fertilizers are applied to the trunk circle at the rate of 10 liters per 1 m2 of area.

Poultry manure is an organic fertilizer in which microorganisms that can cause fungal diseases can be found and actively develop.

Garden crops can become sick with them if they are watered very often and abundantly. This concerns strawberry, pepper, tomato... To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to apply fertilizers in the spring, a couple of months before planting garden crops. They dig up the soil, apply fertilizers and cover them with a layer of soil. You can use not only bird droppings and its infusion. Litter taken out of the barn will not be lost on the farm. The percentage of the litter itself is small. Therefore, the litter can be used for mulching the trunks of bushes and trees.

Using dry bird droppings

Poultry droppings are introduced into the soil in late autumn or spring at 500 g per m2, leveled evenly over the site so that there are no large lumps left. Digging up the soil. For growing seedlings, 40 g of droppings are added to the holes. To feed strawberries and other berries, 300 g of dry droppings are added per 1 m2.

Fresh bird droppings are sometimes added to fertilize shrubs and trees.

No more than a bucket of chicken manure is brought under one tree per year. Under the bush - 2 or one and a half times less, depending on the height of the bush. When spreading in this way, it should not be poured close to the trunk. They dig up the soil and water it. When planting young trees, 1 kg of poultry manure is introduced into the planting pit, mixing with soil and others mineral fertilizers... Do not allow droppings to get on tree roots. Young trees do not require feeding for three years. After all, the action of the litter is designed for such a time.

Bringing in fresh chicken droppings is dangerous for plants. If there is too much of it, young plants will stagnate and may die. Better to cook from it compostwhich can be done in several ways:

• The droppings taken out of the hen house are piled up. You can add cow dung to it. It should be borne in mind that it is 3 times weaker than chicken. But this is not scary, the main thing in using such a fertilizer is not to exceed the concentration and not to pour too much. Periodically spill with water and shovel at least twice in the summer. After 2 months, the compost is ready.
• You can prepare high-quality compost with mineral fertilizers. To do this, they need to pour over layers of manure.
• If there is peat, you can compost this way. Pour a layer of peat mixed with straw, sawdust. Sprinkle on top with a layer of chicken manure 20 cm thick. Repeat the procedure several times. Spill with water, shovel. If you add M-bokashi to the compost, the composting process will be much faster.

Handle chicken droppings with care. It may contain helminth eggs. Therefore, you need to wash your hands after handling the substance. If the litter is too dry, then during the work with it, the smallest particles penetrate into the respiratory tract. In order to avoid this, put on a gauze bandage or pre-spill it with water. Children are not allowed to work with chicken droppings. After preparing the fertilizer or using it, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. The container is washed. After that, it is suitable for preparing the next batch of fertilizers.

For which plants and vegetables is bird droppings contraindicated?

Do not use chicken manure for feeding ripening garlic, Lukeotherwise it will disappear. If you use droppings to fertilize greens, they become tasteless. It can be used only at the beginning of development. Do not use chicken manure for feeding small or very young plants. This can stop their growth.

Watering the plants, avoid getting the solution on the leaves and fruits. Vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers) are fed before the fruits grow. The benefits of using poultry droppings depend on the acidity it has. And this, in turn, is determined by what the chickens eat and their age. The acidity index pH 6.5-8.0 is considered normal.

You can not feed plants that prefer acidic soils with a solution of chicken manure:

• Azaleas
• Ferns
• Rhododendrons
• Heathers
• Camellias
• Blueberry

These plants will be hampered by the high sodium salt content of poultry droppings.

More information can be found in the video: