manure tea from chicken manure

snowcap · #1 04/28/14, 01:45 AM

I am short on amendments this year. I am transitioning from rabbits to chickens.
I put all the rabbit manure in the garden, planted some items in beds with out additional amendments, put in some green manure crops. Now I am wondering if could put a few tbs. of fairly fresh chicken manure in a bucket of water and let it set few days and use it to water crops, such as head cabbage.
Or will it still burn the plants.

This is a 13 year old garden and has had ample amounts of organic material till this year.
Any advise on this will help. By fall I'll have more compost made from chicken manure and organic material. Then I hope to not need to do things like this.

gweny · #2 04/28/14, 02:05 AM

Chicken and rabbit manure can go straight in the garden. They don't have to age like horse manure. I've read that mixing the two will do amazing things for veggie beds. Planning to get rabbits in the next year so I can try it.

I've never made compost tea with manure. I've had great results with worm compost tea... Except it has attracted so many worms to my yard that I now have a big mole problem.

1shotwade · #3 04/28/14, 03:07 AM

I keep reading on here that chicken manure MUST be composted for a year before use. I ran low on fert. to mix in a batch of potting mix so took droppings from the chicks and mixed it in. It burnt up EVERY plant I started. I just would NOT trust using it again.

Wade

Andrewhill · #4 04/28/14, 05:34 AM

I would use it, but I would treat it as a high nitrogen instant release fertilizer. Or in other words use very very little at first until you get a feel for how strong it is. You can always add more later.

The hydroponic additive aqua shield is supposed to be filtered chicken manure solution.

gweny · #5 04/28/14, 06:01 AM

You can always test the strength of your compost tea using a cheap soil test kit. I have always diluted mine... About 1 cup of tea to 1 gallon of water has never burned my plants. I dilute it farther for seedlings and just mist them with it.

geo in mi · #6 04/28/14, 06:29 AM

In this study, 20 lbs. of fresh chicken manure in 35 gals. of water--steeped for four weeks-- then diluted by a factor of 4, made a tea pretty similar to hydroponic solution. http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.echocom..._ManureTea.pdf

Basically, as mentioned, you are getting mostly instant nitrogen, with an added boost of potassium, phosphorus, and some other minerals. Sodium, as expected is quite high, but should leech out of the soil with added watering. But it is not to be considered as organic matter. I would save what's left of the manure portion as compost makings.

geo

Callieslamb · #7 04/28/14, 06:30 AM

I think it would work but it will depend on how much you dilute the chicken manure. Just like tilling it into the soil- it all depends on the amount of manure to the amount of soil. My chicken poo usually comes with wood chips so I've never had a problem with it.

Yellowmug · #8 04/28/14, 10:40 AM

I am really careful with chicken manure and err on the side of caution because I am afraid to burn the plants, but I have thrown in a bit when I am making alpaca manure tea and have not had a problem. Good luck!