chicken fertilizer

Hi all,

I've a quick question. We have three chickens and a dump of a garden, I'm wondering what we can do with their poo to turn the garden around.

For the past fifteen weeks I've been filling a compost bin with their saw dust, straw and poo, but could I be digging the chicken poo straight into the Earth? Am I wasting time by putting it into compost when I could just dig it straight in, there's nothing growing right now, and if there were, would it be harmful to the plants? I've never run a garden or compost bin previously!

Thanks

Thanks, I wasn't sure because I've heard tales of people in days gone by where horse poo was stolen from the streets and used immediately on roses, I guess horses and chickens have very different digestion systems (aside from different diets)

So how long does the process normally take to break down, should I use compost activator or other chemicals to speed the process?

Are there any situations where the chicken poo can be used without going through compost, such as plants which crave raw chicken poo?

I do the exact opposite. Once the garden is finished for the season, I dump about an inch layer of fresh chicken poo over the garden and leave it to overwinter. By spring, it's just fine for planting. I do not, however, spread the fresh poo around my garlic or other overwintering veg as it's simply too strong and will kill them. The worms don't seem to mind at all.