During my Master Gardener days , I call back listening to a soil scientist from Utah State University give a presentation on dope . Not just any poop , of course of study ; this introduction was aboutbuilding quality soilfor food production in thebackyard garden , and the focus eventually turned to manure . Grant E. Cardon , USU extension soil specialist , bemusedly recite to us the looks on his interns ’ faces when he explain that for several week their lab would be receiving sample after sample of manure from across the corking land of Utah in ordination to compile some oecumenical info on the samplings . They were n’t incisively thrilled .
I ca n’t really envisage why , as manure is one of my preferent things . If you ’re prosperous enough to be able to keepchickensorgoatson your urban farm , I ’m guessing you are likewise enamored of what comes out of the south end of those animals . We ’re such garden nerds , we ’d rather have composted manure than bricks of atomic number 79 .
What makes the great unwashed so thrilled with the manure of chickens , goats , cows and horses ? As Cardon note in the results of his manure sample , “ progressively , growers and homeowners likewise are looking to local manure and compost products as a source of fertiliser and for grunge conditioning . ” you could buy chemically ready fertiliser for your garden seam , but why pay for something you could grow in your backyard or line up for devoid in your community ?
Must Have Manure
Before applying manure to your garden — or any other amendment , for that matter — the first matter you should do istest your dirt . The results of a grime test will show you the nutritional constitution of your soil and in what areas you ’ll involve to improve deficiency . Your local cooperative telephone extension office can help oneself you with this .
In cosmopolitan , gardener are await to increase the nitrogen , phosphorus and potassium ( NPK ) grade in their soil . There are other micronutrients required in healthy soils , but NPK are the bounteous gun for hire and they make up most fertilizers .
Manure has a fortune to offer up that commercial fertilizer do n’t put up . For one , if you or a neighbour keeps the the beast , the manure is free or very cheesy , which is n’t on-key of commercial constituent fertiliser . Also , manure improves your soil ’s structure and tilth , make it more permeable while hold moisture . Plus , it ’s a simple , sustainable agency to add nutrient back into your dirt without make to bank on outside sources of fertiliser .
By right compost manure , you eliminate the risk of contaminating your crop with pathogen , like salmonella . you’re able to sum up a bountiful batch of in the buff manure to any garden beds leave fallow in the fall so that possible pathogens can dispel and the manure can mellow over the wintertime . This is especially honest of chicken manure , which contains high levels of nitrogen that can glow plants . you could also apply it in early springiness so it can cool down and start out to offend down . Avoid enforce new manure in any arena where you ’ll be harvesting in the next 120 days ; however , I apply my composted manure as I need it during the height of plant product .
Be aware that manure contains table salt in varying levels . If you live in a wry climate , you ’re in all probability already used to watch salinity point in your dirt , so manure from a goodish , clean - fed animal is kick the bucket to be the least of your saline problems . With a normal watering / rain pattern , salinity is ascertain . Also , be judicious about app program : When over - put on , the P can bind up other element , make them unavailable .
Chicken Manure
poulet manure is wide regarded as the best — read : most alimentary — manure . ( Do n’t tell that to the hare citizenry , though . ) It ranks as one of the gamey in nitrogen stage and has sizable phosphorus . Cardon ( or rather , his manure - laden interns ) immortalise that volaille manure had the highest nitrogen storey of the manure samples tested—6.62 percentage . Comparatively , swine manure was the second - high , coming in at 1.79 percent . Note that these portion will motley by region , so check with your local extension federal agent to see what examination , if any , has been done in your region .
gamy N stage have a drawback : Nitrogen is red-hot . so as to avoid scathe to plants , actively compost fresh volaille manure for at least four weeks before apply it . you may try on side - dressing crop with peeled volaille manure — N promotes folio growth , so it ’s particularly helpful for leafy cat valium — but remark that you might have to experiment to find success .
Chicken manure also come with high levels of phosphorus , which can interpose with the territory ’s absorption of other nutrients , like iron and zinc . Once in the filth , those elevated story of phosphorus can stick around for several years , as the plant can only filter out so much in a given season . If you ’re applying a destiny of volaille manure for the sole purpose of raise your N levels — even if you compost it well — lend oneself it judiciously and expend a atomic number 7 - situate top crop along with it , so you ’re not depending on manure alone to get up atomic number 7 content . Like sea table salt on a meal , a niggling goes a long manner .
Goat Manure
Goat manure may not be stuffed with nitrogen but it ’s certainly there and if you ’re using goat droppings that are mixed with urine , the N stratum will be increased . The trade - off for less nitrogen overall is a mellower poop .
Goat manure is considered coolheaded , and it has a more balanced pH and less salt . It ’s also much drier than chicken manure , dropping to the earth in genteel , trivial pellets , much like a rabbit ’s poop only a bit larger . These pelletized droppings allow for more air in the composting manure pile , and the ironical nature allows it to compost quicker . Unlike its chicken similitude , goat dung is much inodorous . Although goat manure can check some weed seeds , overall it does n’t seem to attract maggots and flies as readily as chicken manure .
It ’s also wanton and easy to move , hit work caprine animal manure into garden bottom a pretty easy job . I ’ve put goat manure in the garden in the early spring and those beds are ready to establish in a matter of weeks . In short , a clean - fed and in good order handle for goat will bring on a mild but effective manure each year without too much work on your part . Again , a little goes a longsighted way , even if you ’re using a manure teatime , which will work nicely for any manure , not just goat .
Make Your Choice
The decision to amend your with chicken manure or caprine animal manure is for you to make up one’s mind . As for me , I ’ll take both . I usually heap up my volaille manure after the former coop cleansing in March and let it compost somewhere out of the fashion . I turn it a little and let the sprinklers irrigate it , but I mostly disregard it until July when I desire to give the garden a boost . My goat manure I directly utilise early to the soil for the leap garden and at the goal of summertime for the autumn garden . Personally , I opt butt manure because it ’s less work : Just sprinkle and wait a few weeks for it to break out down .
The truth is , there ’s a topographic point for most farm animal poop in our garden . The key is to be aware of your malicious gossip ’s dynamics through soil examination and to keep your applications of natural mulches , compost and manure varied and balanced . Replacing your store - bought fertilizers with natural additives is n’t complicated if you remember to countenance manure mellow and apply it with charge .
