If not composted it stinks. They do the fields around me when some one empties the barn and smells for days. Then when it rains smells again. Lots of nitrogen so if not composted is real hot and can burn plants. But would say the landscaper has a handel on it. Just be careful as chickens eat seed and some does get spilled. So if pile is not hot enough you could get lots of weeds.
Judy

Millie, all I know is years ago on the other farm, I spread the old bedding from the floor of the chicken house around a shrub border and the grass that surrounded the shrubs were the most beautiful deep green for about 18 inches out! If I could get it, I would!

Judy, I am in the middle of chicken country and you are right about it stinking if not composted. My DH just told me that he called a grower over by Cassville and the man composts it himself...he had both for sale...composted and fresh. Very reasonable price.

gldno, we used our chicken litter on the garden for years, but then I knew what was in it. We finally quit keeping chickens, and the neighbor who used to have a commercial rabbitry went out of business, so we are searching for new sources. Have found a man who will let us have plenty of horse manure/sawdust bedding. The sawdust is not composted, but the horse poop compensates for that... especially if worked into the soil in late fall or winter. The problem is the distance to haul it.

I figure the landscaper wouldn't be using it if he had to contend with a bunch of weeds. He told me how hot it was composted, but everthing slips my mind any more. :O(

Mille, my concern about the chicken compost is the residual chemicals they feed the chickens (steroids, growth hormones, whatever). Horse would be fine for the veggies but personally, I wouldn't use commercially fed chicken manure in a vegetable garden. Flower beds would be okay and we've used it there. Just my 2 cents.

You know, if you are really concerned about chemicals in the composted stuff, contact your Extension people. I bet they can tell you if it is safe or not for use in a vegetable plot. There are so many regulations anymore that I don't see how they could sell a dangerous product.

Be interesting to see what you find out.

gld

Kaye, I tend to think the same way. You missed one... Amproleum (sp?) for coccidiosis. I asked my vet how long to withdraw from eating eggs after treating my hens with Ivomec for leg mites, once. She said, "it's safe enough that it's used on people in third world countries". I muttered something about not being from a third world country and she said, "well, look at it this way...you won't get leg mites." Didn't deny that it would be in the eggs, though. I don't think we ever thought about this kind of thing until systemics came along. I wasn't afraid of rabbit poop because the folks who raised them told me that there was zero tolerance for antibiotics in that meat. They could not use it on the bunnies for market at all. Occasionally on the breeding stock, but not on those bound for market.

gld, maybe I am too much a product of my Missouri heritage... have my doubts about a lot of things. :O) I suspect that Extension Agents wouldn't know any more about these products than the Agri business industry wants them to know. Kind of like what we have with doctors and the drug industry. I'd probably not want to use horse poop if they were crowded into a feed lot, also. When animals run loose as nature intended, medication is only used when symptoms occur, not continually as a preventative. I may email the local agent to see what he has to say...just out of curiosity.

Kind of hate to mess up a good thing...this piece of land had not been farmed or gardened for 40 years when we got it 23 years ago.

I use the litter and droppings from my coop around my garden and plants when I clean it out 3-4 times a year (I use the deep litter method) and my plants LOVE IT! It provides mulch as well as fertilizer and after about the first week or so the odor is negligible. I would agree with the other posters, though, that using the composted litter from a commercial operation could be questionably safe for your garden. They tend to stuff those birds full of all kinds of antibiotics and growth hormones and all that.

We raise 100 fryers every year and bed them on wood shavings. We use no systemics so aren't at all afraid to use our own uncomposted chickenpoop/litter combo which we till into the garden a month or two before we plant. But a word about horse manure. We once had to abandon a garden spot because we spread uncomposted horse manure mixed with hay and straw bedding straight from the horse stall onto the garden and tilled it in. What a beautiful stand of Johnson grass and Bermuda grass we got. These days we would use Roundup as it has no residual effect and fallow the land to be sure but back then we would use no chemicals so we moved the garden. So compost the horse poop. Horses eat hay and the seeds are in the manure and have to get really hot to die. We have used commercially composted chicken manure in the past--and killed a row of green beans with it as it was still too "Hot". I don't know how well chemicals would survive the 165 Degrees that a well made compost pile reaches but the seeds die at that temp. Dorothy

Dorothy, I can't imagine dressing 100 fryers....do you all do it yourself or have it done? I would love to raise a few. We haven't had good chicken since we did that many, many years ago. What kind do you raise?

In my opinion, composted chicken is some of the best fertilizer for gardening. Let me clear up some myths.
We have a commercial chicken operation here. We raise 50,000 chickens in a 38,000 sq ft barn, no cages, all open space. The barn has a climate control system that is state of the art. The birds have fresh air, an ideal temperature for their age, fresh water and good feed. There aren't any growth hormones used. Antibiotics are used to medicate the flock ONLY if needed. It's like giving your child an antibiotic when they have strep throat. Antibiotics are NOT allowed to be given to the flock within 10 days of going to market. The corn and grains that are fed to the birds are from our local farmers.

Properly composted chicken manure with bedding is ideal in vegetable or plant gardens. The nitrogen levels are hot so with raw manure its best to work it into the soil about 3 weeks before planting. Well composted manure can be applied topically around plants, but not on them. If properly composted weed seeds are destroyed and only your plants will grow, no other surprises. Chicken manure is considered to be organic once it it leaves the chicken, just like any other manure.

Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Here is a link that might be useful: CHIT

The name of that link is what I say when I fall on the black ice. More like Oh Chit as I'm going down. I have been to a play off party but no alcohol, really.

Glenda, you asked me a question and I never got back here to see it.

We raise Cornish Cross meat birds and have to feed them commercial feed but also feed a great deal of garden trimmings, pulled weeds (they love chickweed and lambsquarter) and even grass clippings. It does make a difference in the flavor.

And yes, for the last three years, we have butchered them ourselves. When our local butcher--an 80 year old widow--retired, she offered to sell us her electric plucker, and thermometer, which speeds up the job. We make a day of it and DH and I, my brother and his wife along with his daughter, husband and 2 teenagers spend a long day butchering chickens. Then in the fall we raise more and our daughter, husband and 3 daughters all come again and help.

I also raise Cornish Cross meat chickens but when I butcher them I skin them for less fat and it is much easier than plucking. But when I cook them I smear olive oil all over the chicken and sprinkle on whatever herbs and spices I would like and salt/pepper. Cook the whole chicken for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 325 in a covered roasting pot.I also feed them commercial natural chicken feed because the organic chicken feed store closed down. Lots of grass and other green food also. The greens make a big difference in flavor. But, because these chickens are ready to be butchered in 6-8 weeks they grow so round and fat they cannot move around like other chickens.