# Chicken crap vs lime/fertilizer



## Grand Slam (Feb 2, 2010)

I'll be the first to tell you I'm ignorant when it comes to fertilizer, lime, etc. My question is would chicken crap serve the same purpose as lime or fertilizer or both, as far as making my soil healthier? I'm guessing moreso the fertilizer with the nitrogen content?


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## Canuck5 (Feb 2, 2010)

*Chicken manure ......*

would have benefits like fertilizer.  If you can get it cheaply delivered to your property, I think it will add organic matter as well as some NPK.  The only negative to it, might be that it could contain a lot or weed seeds.  If you could have it piled and composted, that would kill the weed seeds, if there are any.


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## Wild Turkey (Feb 2, 2010)

Chicken crap is an excellent source of quick release nitrogen etc.
Composting with other organic material will slow the release rate and keep from burning your stuff up and weed problems.
Since your new at this.
Create a compost heap with straw, wood chips etc and mix poop in.
let compost for 2 months mixing twice.
Then fertilize with it carefully


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## jimbo4116 (Feb 2, 2010)

Ain't worth the effort.  Best I remember chicken manure has about 1 lb. of Nitrogen per 100#.  Which means you have  to put out a 1000# to equal a 100# of 10-10-10.  The P and K are less than that.  Rates on pastures and row crops such as corn are 2 to 6 tons per acre.  

If you have poor soil the organic matter will help build it up, it is a lot of work unless you have the equipment to spread it and incorporate into the soil.

My son has run the numbers and had the analysis and comparisons in side by side field tests with chicken manure and foliar fertilizers.

Chicken Manure in no way replace lime.


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## Pineyrooter (Feb 2, 2010)

jimbo4116 said:


> Ain't worth the effort.



Disagree. It may not contain the same amount of nitrogen as processed fertilize per weight but the principal value of manure is its extended availability of nitrogen. It also depends on what type chicken litter you’re using. Is it broiler house litter, is it stocked pile litter, it depends.  How does the cost compare per ton to processed fertilize. The organic matter component is important too.  Lime adjusts the soils PH away from acid. Fertilize adds nutrients to stimulate growth and the lime allows the fertilize to work better. Two separate factors that couldn’t be more related.


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## andyh2484 (Feb 2, 2010)

Pineyrooter said:


> Disagree. It may not contain the same amount of nitrogen as processed fertilize per weight but the principal value of manure is its extended availability of nitrogen. It also depends on what type chicken mature you’re using. Is it broiler house litter, is it stocked pile liter, it depends.  How does the cost compare per ton to processed fertilize. The organic matter component is important too.
> Lime adjusts the soils PH away from acid. Fertilize adds nutrients to stimulate growth and the lime allows the fertilize to work better. Two separate factors that couldn’t be more related.


 Definitely worth the effort, as long as the litter isn't too moist. The cost to haul enough litter due to weight can get out of control if you aren't careful. 

The benefits of adding organic fertilizer are extensive.


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## EastALHunter (Feb 3, 2010)

*Chicken litter is most often...*



Grand Slam said:


> I'll be the first to tell you I'm ignorant when it comes to fertilizer, lime, etc. My question is would chicken crap serve the same purpose as lime or fertilizer or both, as far as making my soil healthier? I'm guessing moreso the fertilizer with the nitrogen content?



A 3-3-3 fertilizer which is 3 pounds of nitrogen, 3 pounds of phosphorous, and 3 pounds of potash (potassium) per 100 pounds of chicken litter.  So if you put out a ton of chicken litter you are putting out 60 pounds of nitrogen, 60 pounds of phosphorous, and 60 pounds of potash.  That is a lot of fertilizer for $15-25 per ton.  Chicken litter is dirt cheap right now because commercial fertilizer is basically equivalent in price.   Most farmers put out 2-3 tons of chicken litter per acre.

The gentleman is correct - you can burn up crops if you put out too much chicken litter on an existing crop.  If you are putting it on an existing crop, keep it to 1 ton per acre.  If you are putting litter down before planting, do it about one month before planting and disk it in.

The one thing that is good about chicken litter for sandy soils is the wood shavings in it help keep the nitrogen, potash, and other nutrients from leaching away.  The other benefit of chicken litter is it will not increase the acidity in the soil like commercial fertilizers.  That is nice for food plot guys that can't get lime spread easily like farmers.


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## TJay (Feb 3, 2010)

We used chicken litter the last few years we had our Greene co lease.  If you get rain on it fairly quickly it does great.  We used to plant around the first of Sept and one year we got virtually NO rain.  Food plots stunk to high heaven.  But the following years we had sufficient rain and the plots did great, very healthy and green with hardly any smell.  One other con and it's not really  that big a deal is there will be chicken parts mixed in with the litter.  Bones legs & such.  When you get rain on chicken litter it works just fine.


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## shakey gizzard (Feb 3, 2010)

Feathers are also high in nitrogen! Just had to ammend this post!


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## jimbo4116 (Feb 3, 2010)

Pineyrooter said:


> Disagree. It may not contain the same amount of nitrogen as processed fertilize per weight but the principal value of manure is its extended availability of nitrogen. It also depends on what type chicken litter you’re using. Is it broiler house litter, is it stocked pile litter, it depends.  How does the cost compare per ton to processed fertilize. The organic matter component is important too.  Lime adjusts the soils PH away from acid. Fertilize adds nutrients to stimulate growth and the lime allows the fertilize to work better. Two separate factors that couldn’t be more related.



Let me rephrase.  If you are using it on more than a small garden or a food plot it is not worth the work unless you  have  it readily available, equipment to transport, to  spread and to incorporate it.  Shoveling 4 or 5 tons of chicken manure off the back of pickup is no picnic.

As I said it does have benefits to poor soils.  The organic material will build up the soil.

As to the OPs post  fertilizer and lime are two different components in the process.  Fertilizer, i.e., chicken manure does not replace or substitute for lime.

Watched a farmer spread some chicken manure last week.  He had a hydraulic ram spreader.  I would guess it to be at least a $30,000 piece of equipment not to mention the tractor to pull it, the dump truck, and the FE loader.


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## big country rnr (Feb 5, 2010)

Make sure you disk it in well! Chicken litter on top of the ground can give ur local turkey population fowl pox!!!


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## vsudoc (Feb 6, 2010)

I think you guys will find that there are pros and cons to using manure based fertilizers as well as synthetic fertilizers.  I have been using All natural ferts with great results compared to manure and synthetic.  These natural ferts are liquid based and easy to applicate.  Nutrient content, based on plant analysis, seems to be higher using these ferts than when using manure or synthetic and the soil ammendment qualities are great as well.


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## Powerstroke_4x4_08 (Mar 2, 2010)

Jimbo...that is so far from the truth.  If chicken litter is supposed to only contain such a small amount of nitrogen then how come it will burn the fool out of a pasture.  I have spread a lot of chicken litter, and if you get hen litter it actually will help with acidic soils, the same that lime will do.  In this case it takes a lot more litter to really do what needs to be done.  But if you get some dry broiler litter, or can get into some pullet houses that done get cleaned every bunch then you better be careful and not burn your pasture or crops.  Now a lot of chicken companies are making their growers put in alum in the winter time to keep the ammonia from burning the chicks when they first come in.  If you get the litter out of those houses then the nitrogen level will be down because of the alum.  You can get by without putting lime on pastures if you can get hen litter, and if not you really cant afford to put lime on a field and make money.  Around where i live lime goes for around $55 a ton spread.  In most of the cases that i have tested the soil and had it sent of the university of gergia they recommend 2 tons to the acre.  You do the math, and unless you just like to throw money out there you can afford to put lime on a field until it gets cheaper.  But as far as chicken litter containing nitrogen, the drier the litter the hotter the stuff is.  The wetter the litter the more it stinks, and the less nitrogen it contains.


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## grower217 (Mar 16, 2010)

I use 100's of tons of litter every year on pastures.. and hay fields_ never tested it but i know i have more grass and cut more hay than neighbors using comercial fertilizer_


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## jimbo4116 (Mar 17, 2010)

Pineyrooter said:


> Disagree. It may not contain the same amount of nitrogen as processed fertilize per weight but the principal value of manure is its extended availability of nitrogen. It also depends on what type chicken litter you’re using. Is it broiler house litter, is it stocked pile litter, it depends.  How does the cost compare per ton to processed fertilize. The organic matter component is important too.  Lime adjusts the soils PH away from acid. Fertilize adds nutrients to stimulate growth and the lime allows the fertilize to work better. Two separate factors that couldn’t be more related.



Completely agree. I think that is what I said, only that I added was  the handling costs have to be considered.



Powerstroke_4x4_08 said:


> Jimbo...that is so far from the truth.  If chicken litter is supposed to only contain such a small amount of nitrogen then how come it will burn the fool out of a pasture.  I have spread a lot of chicken litter, and if you get hen litter it actually will help with acidic soils, the same that lime will do.  In this case it takes a lot more litter to really do what needs to be done.  But if you get some dry broiler litter, or can get into some pullet houses that done get cleaned every bunch then you better be careful and not burn your pasture or crops.  Now a lot of chicken companies are making their growers put in alum in the winter time to keep the ammonia from burning the chicks when they first come in.  If you get the litter out of those houses then the nitrogen level will be down because of the alum.  You can get by without putting lime on pastures if you can get hen litter, and if not you really cant afford to put lime on a field and make money.  Around where i live lime goes for around $55 a ton spread.  In most of the cases that i have tested the soil and had it sent of the university of gergia they recommend 2 tons to the acre.  You do the math, and unless you just like to throw money out there you can afford to put lime on a field until it gets cheaper.  But as far as chicken litter containing nitrogen, the drier the litter the hotter the stuff is.  The wetter the litter the more it stinks, and the less nitrogen it contains.



I am not trying to say that it is not a good fertilizer.  Just that applying it to a large food plot or several acres is a lot of work with out the necessary equipment.  Lime and fertilizers are to different animals. 

Here is some info on Chicken Manure.
http://www.ecochem.com/t_manure_fert.html
http://www.noble.org/Ag/Soils/PoultryLitter/index.html
http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-05/

However test have shown that folliar fertilizers can be applied for around the same costs when fuel, equipment and labor are considered with better yield results and without the accompanying negatives of manure.  The advantages of foliar nutrient programs are just now being realized in this region the country.


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## SarahFair (Mar 18, 2010)

big country rnr said:


> Make sure you disk it in well! Chicken litter on top of the ground can give ur local turkey population fowl pox!!!



Unless the chickens that pooped the poop had fowl pox then fowl pox spreads. It can also be spread via mosquitoes, direct/indirect contact. 
Not all poop will contain the virus. Just be careful and ask before you use it.


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## NCHillbilly (Mar 18, 2010)

Organic fertilizers like chicken manure may not look like much in a chemical analysis compared to chemical fertilizers, but in practice are much better than the chemical stuff, plus they help build the soil. The major nutrients (N-P-K) and trace elements in chicken manure are more available and easily taken up by plants than most chemical fertilizers. From nearly 25 years in the horticultural field, I can tell you that plants seem to be generally more healthy and pest/disease resistant when grown with natural fertilizers vs. chemical fertilizers. And I can personally taste the difference in vegetables grown with each, especially greens-the chemically fertilized ones have a more bitter taste.


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## Unicoidawg (Mar 18, 2010)

Chicken litter works very well...........Gotta be careful of the weeds though...

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=303726


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## Wild Turkey (Mar 18, 2010)

Back to lime. low ph is acidic soil. Very common around pines and red clay. Most plants like a fairly neutral ph of 7.0 . Also the soil will more readily accept and distribute nutrients when the ph is close to 7.0.
That being said, lime will raise the ph of soil depending on how much you need. Typically a lot more than you expect.
Acidic soil can contain nutrients and not readily provide them to plants because of the low ph level.
Controlled ph is just as important if not more so than fertilizer.


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## Quail man (Mar 18, 2010)

we raise about 40,000 quail a year and the quail manure is all I use on our corn fields, and all of our food plots. have had great sucess the past couple of years, only thing you have to watch out for is buildup in phosphuris, probley didnt spell that right, they have all these fancy, expensive spreaders but I have a boom on the tractor attached with a chain to a plastic truck bed liner " I pay $1 a piece for at the dealership " and use it like a dump bed, I can spread a truckload of quail crap a inch thick and 80 yards long.


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## schreck_1 (Mar 19, 2010)

Wild Turkey said:


> Back to lime. low ph is acidic soil. Very common around pines and red clay. Most plants like a fairly neutral ph of 7.0 . Also the soil will more readily accept and distribute nutrients when the ph is close to 7.0.
> That being said, lime will raise the ph of soil depending on how much you need. Typically a lot more than you expect.
> Acidic soil can contain nutrients and not readily provide them to plants because of the low ph level.
> Controlled ph is just as important if not more so than fertilizer.



Thank you for posting this, lime is much more important than fertilizer, be it chemical or otherwise.  Plants cannot uptake the nutrients in the soil unless the pH is correct.  That is what lime does.  If your pH is too acidic (or in rare cases too basic) it doesn't matter how much fertilizer you put out.

Why would you want to guess at this?  Get an $8 soil test and be sure.


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## Quail man (Mar 21, 2010)

called the co-op yesterday and lime is goin for $30 a ton


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