What Plants Like Chicken Manure and How to Safely Use It Jenny Graham, December 29, 2023December 29, 2023 Organic gardeners often want to know what plants like chicken manure and how to safely use it in the vegetable garden. We will cover what plants like chicken manure and which don’t like chicken manure. The why, when, and how much poultry manure to use, composting it, and the safe use of poultry manure in the vegetable garden. What Plants Like Chicken Manure? While all veggie plants need nitrogen, some are heavier feeders than others. You can expect all nitrogen loving plants to love aged chicken manure, since it is high in nitrogen. If you are growing lettuce, aged and composted chicken manure may be a good choice. So, What Plants Like Chicken Manure? The most popular nitrogen loving vegetable plants are: Asparagus Beans Bok Choy Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Cauliflower Celery Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Kale Lettuces Melons Okra Peppers Pumpkins Spinach Squash Swiss Chard Tomatoes What Plants Like Chicken Manure Vs What Plants Don’t Like Manure? When considering what plants like chicken manure, it’s important to keep in mind the vegetables that don’t like chicken poop. You’ll notice that most of the vegetables on this list are your root vegetables. Less nitrogen is better for these plants: Beets Carrots Parsnips Potatoes Radishes Rutabagas Sweet Potatoes Turnips Watermelons What About Adding Chicken Manure to Flower Beds and Fruit Trees? Don’t forget about your flowers when deciding what plants like chicken manure. Flower production ultimately relies on the growth of the plant. You’ll find that you end up with more flowers on a plant that has grown vigorously by using a higher nitrogen source, like aged chicken manure. Fruit trees also love chicken poop. I have a mulberry fruit tree that is planted right by my chicken coop. My free range chickens roost in it at night. We have seen explosive growth with that fruit tree. It always has a ton of fresh chicken manure around it. Why Use Poultry Manure? Poultry manure is one of the most popular organic fertilizers out there full of essential nutrients. Poultry manure is a useful source of nitrogen, which is the most important nutrient for leafy plant growth. Leafy greens love aged chicken manure. A lack of nitrogen is the main reason for plant leaves turning yellow. Organic Nutrients of Poultry Manure Not only does chicken manure contain nitrogen as it’s main nutrient, it also has phosphorus, and potassium (NPK), along with calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and tons of micronutrients. Poultry manure may be one of the best organic fertilizers. When to Use Poultry Manure? The short answer is early spring or at the beginning of the growing season. Composted or aged chicken manure should be applied to crops that do not have ground contact no later than 90 days before you harvest. This is a good rule of thumb for trellised crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. For crops that have ground contact, like strawberries, the ideal time is 120 days before you harvest. Composted or aged chicken manure can be used as a top dressing for plants. Use it on the drip line, away from the stem of the plant. You can also amend your garden soil late winter with fresh chicken manure and let it age in preparation for the spring garden season. How Much Chicken Manure Should I Use? Now that you know what plants like chicken manure, a good rule of thumb to follow is to use one pound of composted or aged chicken manure per square foot. At that rate you’ll have to be diligent in collecting and adding fresh chicken manure to your compost heap. What Happens if I Use Too Much Chicken Manure? Over fertilizing vegetable plants can burn your plants. Not only can it burn them, using too much poultry manure can encourage too much growth too quickly. The plant growth will exceed the growth of the plant roots making it unable to support the necessary nutrient uptake from the soil. Harvesting Fresh Chicken Manure From Your Chicken Coop The best way to harvest chicken manure from your coop is to have roosting bars set up. Every morning when you go out to collect fresh eggs you can scoop up the fresh manure and put it into a compost pile. Composting Fresh Manure for Your Garden When it comes to free fertilizer for your garden, it doesn’t get any better than poultry manure. Poultry manure can be composted hot or cold. Composting it along with grass clippings, wood shavings, and lots of dry leaves will give you a nutrient rich organic fertilizer. Hot Composting Process Vs Cold Composting Fresh Manure The hot composting process breaks down organic material at high temperatures, usually between 130-160*F. The high temperatures will kill harmful bacteria and weed seeds. Finished compost can be achieved in about 30 days if done right and tended to. You can also compost chicken manure cold. The cold composting processing process takes much longer to get a final product, at around 3-6 months, depending on the compost pile. Chicken Manure Compost Tea Another great option for using chicken manure in your garden is by making a compost tea with it. My grandfather used to keep a barrel of water by his tomatoes, to which he would add chicken manure. That was the water he used to water his tomato plant with. Benefits of Using Poultry Manure in the Garden Not only is chicken manure an effective way to add nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the garden, it also adds organic matter. Organic matter increases beneficial bacteria, soil microbes, improves soil structure, and increase soil’s water-holding capacity. Is There a Health Risk in Using Poultry Manure Like any other animal manure, poultry manure can contain (but not always) salmonella, E Coli, and cryptosporidium. If animal manure is handled properly and composted or aged for the correct amount of time it greatly reduces the risk of harmful bacteria. What if I Don’t Have Backyard Chickens If you don’t have backyard chickens you can buy chicken manure pellets instead of a chemical fertilizer. It is chicken manure that has already been composted and pelletized. It is a natural fertilizer, free of weed seeds, that has an NPK of 3-2-2 and will not burn your vegetable garden plants. How to Use Chicken Manure Pellets You can use chicken manure pellets in the garden a few different ways. Use it at the beginning of the season by mixing it into the garden soil while amending garden beds, as a top dressing, or you can even make a compost tea with aged manure pellets. A 25 pound bag of 3-2-2 poultry manure pellets will cover 200 square feet. Chicken Manure Pellets Vs Fresh Chicken Manure Since fresh chicken manure can be collected from the chicken coop, it is a low-cost fertilizer. Some time and effort has to be put in to collect and compost it though. In my opinion, it is worth the effort. While chicken manure pellets do come with some convenience, they also come with a hefty price. For a large scale vegetable garden, it may not be cost effective. How Does Chicken Manure Compare to Other Animal Manure? When comparing any type of raw manure, you need to take into consideration how the animal was fed, if the manure has been composted and for how long. These NPK percentages may vary but they will give you the basic idea. (N) Nitrogen% (P) Phosphorus% (K) Potassium% Cow Manure 0.6 0.4 0.5 Horse Manure 0.7 0.3 0.6 Pig Manure 0.8 0.7 0.5 Chicken Manure 1.1 0.8 0.5 Sheep Manure 0.7 0.3 0.9 Rabbit Manure 2.4 1.4 0.6 ​ Organic Gardeners Want to Know, What Plants Like Chicken Manure? Now that you know what plants like chicken manure, how, when, and why to use chicken manure as an organic fertilizer you can get busy fertilizing your garden. Add some poultry manure to a compost bin today to get started. You may also enjoy reading The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Homesteading What Chickens Lay the Biggest Eggs? and What is the Best Mulch for Fruit Trees? Different Types of Fertilizer: When and How to Use Them and The Best Fertilizer for Collard Greens Happy Homesteading & Gardening Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm Jenny and her family have been homesteading for over 20 years. They are currently farming on their 10 acre Florida farm, that they built from the ground up, 8 years ago, growing 100% of their meat and a lot of their vegetables. From their small herd of Aberdeen Angus Cattle, Pastured Poultry, Sheep, and seasonal pigs, they are able to raise enough meat for the family while selling extra to the community. All the while, striving to butcher at home, as much as possible, and use the bits and pieces of their harvest by preserving food, making bone broth, and (Jenny’s favorite) tanning all kinds of hides! ​ Sources: NPK Nutritional Values of Animal Manures & Compost Etc https://www.almanac.com/what-best-manure-compost-gardens https://extension.unr.edu/publication Composting Gardening Homesteading