[habanerohead]

I've got a mate who keeps hens and apparently has substantial quantities of hen muck to get rid of.
I've got a rolling hot composter that I feed with coffee grounds and a soupcon of urine (light the blue touch paper and stand clear!) and it composts in about 2 months - I'll be feeding that w/ some hen muck, but I wondered if the plot would benefit from digging in some fresh stuff, and whether I could plant into it straight after digging, or whether it would be best to let it sit for a bit. I've used dried hen muck with good results - is the undried, uncomposted stuff that different?

Cheers.

[Trillium]

Hen muck is the most potent stuff out there, so no, never spread it in the spring because you cannot plant directly into it. Your plants will simply burn up and die from the excessive ammonia. Let it compost down for a few months first. If it still smells very pongy, leave it for a while longer.

For fresh spreading, do it only in the fall after all the crops are off and it will mellow out over winter. That's what I do with the manure spreader load of fresh hen muck I get every fall. For fruit trees and bushes, leave it to age until spring before spreading. Trust me.

[bravemurphy]

I trench it under the brassicas they seem to love it.