Chicken Fertilizer in the Garden | My Experiment

 I keep a bucket in the corner of the chicken coop to easily clean the inside of the coop. Its about full, and I know you have to let chicken poop age for 6 months minimum before you can use it as fertilizer in the garden, so I was looking at creating a compost bin somewhere on the property, but I have not yet decided where. Then, I realized that chicken poop is "hot" because its high in nitrogen, which would burn most plants, so that got me thinking- I planted corn, which is a high nitrogen feeder. What if I spread this chicken manure between the rows of corn (not directly on the plants, but where the roots could get to it) And so I do a google search, and I find people who have had luck with it. 

Now, I always cook my corn, so I'm not worried about things like diseases passing through to my plants, but this is definitely not something you would want to do with plants you consume raw. Diseases like salmonella have the potential to pass through plants, like lettuce that you would eat raw. Letting the manure age would kill the bad bacteria. 

So this is something I am going to try this year, and its experimental to me, so definitely do your research to make your decision on following me on this. My corn is in the back corner of the garden, not too close to anything else, except sunflowers, which I love the beauty of and for my chickens and the pollinators. So I don't have to worry about anything else. If you are trying something like the 3 sisters garden (corn, beans & squash all together, which I'm told is how the Indians did it, but is also very difficult method, which is why I haven't tried it.), you may not want to try this. 

Also on the note of corn, you need to plant it in a block so the wind can pollenate it and it can produce. It needs a nitrogen fertilizer to be able to have enough energy to really produce. Without that, you get these itty bitty ears, which are good, but not the larger ears you want. 

Happy Growing!