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Tue, Nov 6, 12 at 17:34
| Have chickens so I have access to an ample supply of manure/pine shavings compost, but I'm wondering if composted cow manure would be a better choice for my vegetable garden & raised beds. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Chicken manure is better if you're planting leafy veges. Cow manure is more like all-purpose . |
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| Poultry, or chicken, manure tends to have higher, more readily available Nitrogen then does cattle, cow, manure at 2 to 5 percent instead of 1 to 2 percent, which is why poultry manure tends to burn plants when spread on a garden then does that cattle manure. Any manure, from animals or humans, has the potential of containing disease pathogens so all manures should be properly composted before being spread on the garden a process that also helps stabilize the nutrients those manures contain. |
Here is a link that might be useful: About poultry manure
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| Handsome: I've been using chicken for quite awhile with great results-- the pile gets nice and hot with it. Actually, I was picking up some organic ferts at a local organic nursery this morning, and one of the guys told me their bulk compost consisted of nothing but wood shavings and chicken manure. I've been told HORSE manure is a good one also. Kevin |
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| Never found a bad manure for compost, I do not use human, cat or dog waste in my compost, but some people do. |
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| The best manure is the one that is the most easily obtained, then composted well. My current compost pile is composed of horse manure and sawdust as horses graze my land in the summer so I only have to pick it up. I know the danger of weeds with horse manure is greater due to horses' digestive system so I'll have to get it to heat well next spring. Cow manure and poultry is less likely to be weedy. Stay with your chicken manure unless you like to experiment as many of us do. Well composted it won't burn the plants and there is little danger of disease causing organisms. |
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- Posted by Handsome54 6a (My Page) on Fri, Nov 9, 12 at 17:56
| Thanks everyone for your input! I live in a suburban/rural area & could locate composted cow or horse manure for free without much trouble, but I'd have to load/unload my pickup truck by hand since I don't have a dump bed & being disabled makes it difficult. In the past (before I had chickens) I've hired a small dump truck to deliver manure, but the hauling costs are prohibitive..I can use my FEL on my tractor for my chicken manure compost, so loading & spreading is much easier.. I only have 6 hens, so my compost is probably 75% pine shavings & 25% manure & diatomaceous earth...... |
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| Handsome54: DE in your compost? Never heard of that. Is it helpful in keeping pest populations down when that compost is worked into the soil? Kevin |
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| pine needles are not always recommended for compost because they are acidic. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Pine needles in the compost
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| "...there is no need to exclude pine needles�or any other organic materials�from a compost pile. The acidic conditions created by pine needles are only transitory. As organic materials decompose, they typically cause an initial decrease in pH (increase in acidity), but over time, the pH rises so that the acidity of the composted material becomes near neutral." A quote from the 'Pine needles in the compost' article. |
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| I have been led to believe oak leaves were no good either. A very extensive garden book I am reading explains oak leaves are great, oak tree roots go deep into the ground, bring up valuable nutrients leaves retain. They should be chopped up, the added directly to the garden. I get leaves from 6 100ft oak trees, toss most in my open compost get them next summer. Interesting fact tho about the deep nutrients. |
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| A lot of nonsense has been, and continues to be, written about Oak leaves and Pine needles and while they are acidic, Oak leaves crumbled into distilled water and left to soak for at least 24 hours will have a pH of 3.7. Maple leaves will have a pH of 3.2 and Pine needles will have a pH of 3.8. All tree leaves, that I have so tested, will have a pH in the 3.0 to 4.0 range, so all tree leaves are acidic. However the bacteria that that digest them do something and the compost, or leaf mold, I have made from those leaves always has had a pH in the 6.0 to 6.8 range. Researce done by Dr. Abigail Maynard at the UCONN Ag Research Station at New Haven, Conn found that adding pine needles or Oak leaves to soils did not significantly affect that soils pH. I have found that my soils pH has gone from 5.7 to 7.2 with only the addition of compost and shredded leaves over the years with the compost being made of more shredded leaves. No lime of any kind was added, just the organic matter to an amount that was between 6 and 8 percent. |
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- Posted by Handsome54 6a (My Page) on Sun, Nov 11, 12 at 13:38
| Yuup! Kevin, the DE is sprinkled on the pine shavings in my chicken coop, mostly as odor control in my case. Knocks down the ammonia smell. Very effective. Offers some pest control for my hens also. Don't know how it affects living organisms once composted.... I know it will absorb lots of water until it's broken down & that can cause irrigation issues when the DE absorbs the water & the plants die..... Ask me how I know..... |
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| Robertz6 & kimmsr are correct. This is an old debate, the fruit forum has it often with persons who would like to plant Blueberries in low acidic/ high pH soil. I however never compost pine needles, I use them as mulch, because the wax on the needles helps them to last a few year. After they start to rot, I till them in the bed or compost them. |
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| Robertz6 & kimmsr are correct. This is an old debate, the fruit forum has it often with persons who would like to plant Blueberries in low acidic/ high pH soil. I however never compost pine needles, I use them as mulch, because the wax on the needles helps them to last a few year. After they start to rot, I till them in the bed or compost them. |
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| Robertz6 & kimmsr are correct. This is an old debate, the fruit forum has it often with persons who would like to plant Blueberries in low acidic/ high pH soil. I however never compost pine needles, I use them as mulch, because the wax on the needles helps them to last a few year. After they start to rot, I till them in the bed or compost them. |
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