[m1ckz]

when is the best time of year to spread these on the plot   ty

[New shoot]

I use them in the spring as I start to plant, then ad hoc to feed stuff through the summer.  They are high nitrogen and that doesn't tend to stick around in the soil, so I don't do a once off blanket covering 

[m1ckz]

thanks new shoot     what is  hoc  that u add

[New shoot]

thanks new shoot     what is  hoc  that u add

   oh there's no great science to it.

I just chuck handfuls around when the mood takes me.  I reckon they last about 6 weeks for active feeding, so I reapply to stuff I want to keep actively growing 

[m1ckz]

arrr   ok  cheers

[Plotmaster]

thanks new shoot     what is  hoc  that u add

   oh there's no great science to it.

I just chuck handfuls around when the mood takes me.  I reckon they last about 6 weeks for active feeding, so I reapply to stuff I want to keep actively growing 

But don't you have problems with foxes? I bought some on offer from Wyevale and never got around to finishing up because every time I tried the foxes dug the beds up

[New shoot]

But don't you have problems with foxes? I bought some on offer from Wyevale and never got around to finishing up because every time I tried the foxes dug the beds up

No I haven't and we have lots that visit our site.  They go mad for blood, fish and bone, but if they have eaten chicken manure pellets off the top of the soil (more fool them), I haven't noticed.

I also use spent sawdust from the chicken coops at home as a mulch and they leave that alone as well.  It may well smell of chickens but I guess it tastes about as appetising as horse manure 

[BabbyAnn]

I used to have serious problems with foxes - once they dug my entire bed of winter squashes up where I had put a handful of chicken manure into each planting hole    I managed to rescue a few but the fox came back and dug those up ... in the end I resorted to sprinkling hot chilli powder round the plants.  It put me off using chicken manure pellets but since the foxes have moved off, it's been okay now.

[AnneB]

I used to think that it was the chicken manure pellets that attracted foxes and stopped using them.   It didn't make the slightest difference to fox behaviour, they dug stuff up anyway once in a while.   So I started using them again.  Thankfully foxes seem to have moved on,  I think because our site is now full and people are around in the growing season a lot of the time.