[pepsi100]

I've been offered a couple of 25kg bags chicken manure  pellets and Orgro concentrated manure soil fertiliser

I dont know if they are the same product or if they would help improve the soil/compost in my pots/barrels

The chicken manure pellets seem to swell up, but not breakup

Okay, suggestions for others or which to choose from the two above

[New shoot]

I haven’t used Orgro, but I use chicken manure pellets in containers and on the soil.  They are a fertiliser, but won’t do anything to improve soil structure.

I grow my greenhouse tomatoes in builders buckets with holes drilled into the bases and they get them in their compost mix. I also feed strawberries in containers with them.

On the soil, they do almost everything some good. I use them on flowers at home, plot crops and soft fruit.

The pellets swell up at first, but soon break down and disappear.

[pepsi100]

Thanks for your reply

Yes these chicken pellets do swell up when they get wet, I stir them up when I go past them, I use a hand fork

I just used a couple of handfuls, let it rain they swelled up

I guess its a general fertiliser then

I guess the Orgro might be okay to put on the grass/lawn, might just scatter over the soil every where, I dont think it will do any harm (I got to get rid of it some how)

[New shoot]

Chicken manure pellets are usually made of the spent bedding, poop, feathers and anything else scooped up in the clean out.  They mainly provide nitrogen, which is great for green leafy growth.  There is some phosphorus and potassium, but not as much as other fertilisers sold as general fertilisers.

Having said that, they are good for a lot of stuff and if they have been given to you free, that is a bonus.  The only thing I know they are not so good for is ericaceous plants (blueberries, rhododendrons and the like).  They are generally fairly alkaline, so don’t suit acid loving plants.

[pepsi100]

I think these pellets have been cleaned and compressed, maybe from a garden center, cant see it being from a chicken farm

No good for my blueberries, then, I wont be putting it near them, I use these sulphure pellets for that, rake it in, let the rain do its work

Some bags of stuff I get given is quite nice, 2 bags of John Innes No3, a bag of pond soil (handy for the spring when I seperate my pond plants)

Its hard to refuse them, I do offer to pay for them, but they say they are glad to get rid of them