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Chicken Manure is really "hot" because of the urea in it (chickens don't pee, it's an all-in-one kind of deal.) I would pile it, soak it, turn it and do this a lot of times. If it is too hot, it can really fry roots/plants. I have used 10 year old composted horse manure for all of my gardening life. Now that I am in Mexico, it's burro manure. That said, we grew our own hay on our ranch in Wyoming and there was little if any weed seed in it. My burro manure in Mexico does have some weed seed but not enough to make me manic.

Cow manure is awfully hot also. The best is goat or rabbit. I had a friend who was a famous Iris hybridizer and he would drive 100 miles to get goat poo.

The secret to all of these is composting...fries weed seeds, leaches out urea or other stuff you don't want and it is usually free and plentiful. I swear on my Mother's grave I have never used a commercial fertilizer on my garden in my life.

The other benefit is that all composted manures really help your soil, lightening heavy soil and providing water retention for sandy soils. My tomato beds (and I have a lot...) are basically what were 4 foot deep compost piles, spread out and rototilled unto death.