chicken manure - age it or not?

tjg911 · March 18, 2007

i was under the impression that chicken manure is one of the hottest manures and you ABSOLUTELY can not use it fresh on plants because it'll burn them and kill them. does anyone use fresh, unaged chicken manure in the garden when planting out veggies?

i know that rabbit manure is safe to use without aging it but i thought that rabbit manure was the only manure that could be used fresh. editted to add llama manure is also safe to use unaged. those are the only 2 i know that can be used without composting or aging to allow them to cool down.

i heard that comment saturday on a local radio gardening show on wtic 1080 called "garden talk with len and lisa", it's on saturdays 12-2 for anyone in the southern new england/eastern new york area. it's a 50,000 watt station and reaches into vermont.

their advice is usually good and they do push organic methods. however, sometimes i have heard advise that is either completely incorrect or so poorly explained as to be misleading and this is especially true about tomatoes. my head almost exploded listening to the poor advice on fermenting tomato seeds (i'm sure carolyn would have passed out!), how to start tomatoes from seed, transplanting them out, all last year while working in the garden. i was stunned at what i was hearing and wanted to call or email them. after a long day in the garden i figured the damage is done, god help the poor slubs that followed that advice! a little knowledge in len and lisa's hand is a dangerous thing i think!

so anyway, a caller called in to say unaged chicken manure could be safely used and the 2 hosts on the show agreed!

am certain that unaged chicken manure is way too hot to side dress or put into the soil when planting out plants. comments?

tom

March 18, 2007	#1
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	chicken manure - age it or not? i was under the impression that chicken manure is one of the hottest manures and you ABSOLUTELY can not use it fresh on plants because it'll burn them and kill them. does anyone use fresh, unaged chicken manure in the garden when planting out veggies? i know that rabbit manure is safe to use without aging it but i thought that rabbit manure was the only manure that could be used fresh. editted to add llama manure is also safe to use unaged. those are the only 2 i know that can be used without composting or aging to allow them to cool down. i heard that comment saturday on a local radio gardening show on wtic 1080 called "garden talk with len and lisa", it's on saturdays 12-2 for anyone in the southern new england/eastern new york area. it's a 50,000 watt station and reaches into vermont. their advice is usually good and they do push organic methods. however, sometimes i have heard advise that is either completely incorrect or so poorly explained as to be misleading and this is especially true about tomatoes. my head almost exploded listening to the poor advice on fermenting tomato seeds (i'm sure carolyn would have passed out!), how to start tomatoes from seed, transplanting them out, all last year while working in the garden. i was stunned at what i was hearing and wanted to call or email them. after a long day in the garden i figured the damage is done, god help the poor slubs that followed that advice! a little knowledge in len and lisa's hand is a dangerous thing i think! so anyway, a caller called in to say unaged chicken manure could be safely used and the 2 hosts on the show agreed! am certain that unaged chicken manure is way too hot to side dress or put into the soil when planting out plants. comments? tom Last edited by tjg911; March 18, 2007 at 05:46 PM.