As an experienced chicken owner, I cannot overlook the importance of keeping chickens. Besides their delicious eggs and nutritious meat, chickens’ manure is of significant value. Chicken manure is a high-quality organic fertilizer containing various nutrients. The nutrients include pure nitrogen at 1.63%, phosphorus at 1.64%, and potassium element at around 0.85 %. These three elements are essential for the growth of plants. So, what are the best uses for fermented organic chicken manure? Well, fermented organic chicken manure has many uses on the farm. They improve crop yields, increase crop quality, enhance the nitrite content, and many more. Even better, this form of manure act as a raw material for biogas fermentation and a great source of fuel.
Furthermore, organic chicken manure is a solution to crop production and other agricultural uses. This manure is a neutral alternative to all forms of liquid fossil fertilizers for several reasons. They improve soil structure and promote biological transformation within the soil.
Learn more about the uses of the fermented organic chicken manure in the following sections.
Uses of the Fermented Organic Chicken ManureA Great Source of Nutrients For Crops
Organic manure improves crop yield the same way as artificial fertilizer. According to statistics, this type of manure can significantly increase your crop by 8 to 45 %. This proves that organic chicken manure contains essential nutrients for the crops.
A Source of Nutrients for Forage
Most of the time, poultry manure serves as a source of nutrients for forage, fiber, and cereal crop production. The addition of chicken manure to different types of grass enhances dry matter production. Such promising results come about when you apply the right quantities of manure to your crops in the field. However, an excess application can lead to undesirable effects and poor crop yields.
Production of Corn
Poultry manure plays a crucial role in the production of corn. Highest corn yields have so far been recorded thanks to the use of fermented organic manure. Just like other plants, excessive use of organic chicken manure results in the decrease of corn yield. This is due to the adverse growing conditions resulting from a high concentration of salts in the soil. When you apply the right amounts, fermented organic chicken manure can bring great changes to your crop production. This is one of the most common uses of poultry manure on the farm so far.
Enhance Crop Production
You can enhance your crop production by mixing it with other elements such as phosphate and sulfur. Let the mixture decompose under aerobic conditions for about five weeks before using it. After all, fermented organic chicken manure contains some of the most essential elements that every crop needs to grow well.
Suitable for Soil Amendment
Poor farm management and continuous cultivation are factors that lead to low crop yields in the field. This type of cultivation causes soil deterioration if no drastic measures are put in place at the right time.
Promotes Soil Amendment
For example, continuous cultivation of corn can cause deterioration of the soil in the field by altering physical conditions. One of the conditions affected the most is soil fertility. This is a major factor that contributes to the growth of crops which in turn affects the yield.
A soil that is under continuous cultivation for many decades will lack one or several nutrients. Some of these essential nutrients are gradually depleted by crops during the cultivation period. As a result, the physical structure of the soil stops sustaining crop farming for long. This is when fermented organic chicken manure comes into play to save the situation.
Creates an Impact on the Soil
The addition of this manure and other elements such as urea can have a great impact on the soil. These two elements increase the dry matter yields of certain types of crops such as corn and grass.
The addition of organic manure to the soil plays a key role in improving crop yields. This is because organic manure in the soil compensates for the depleted essential nutrients over a certain period of cultivation.
The effect of organic manure contributes more to the physical properties of the cultivated soil than other types of soils. It also improves the physical fertility of a given type of soil resulting in the rapid growth of certain crops.
Mulching Materials
Compost products including fermented organic chicken manure have other uses as well. These materials play a significant role in maintaining soil moisture. These materials protect the plants’ surface-feeding roots from drying in summer as well as conserving moisture in the soil. With that in mind, you may use them as mulching material for your horticultural and other crops
Organic Chicken Manure as Animal Feed
Organic chicken manure, whether mixed with other feed or on its own, is a valuable source of food for fish and cattle. Speaking of cattle, these types of ruminants utilize uric acid (urea nitrogen) in chicken manure as they feed on it.
Consider Safety of Your Animals
- The presence of foreign materials in the fermented organic chicken manure affects the digestibility of chicken waste matter. For that reason, you must get rid of these foreign materials from the manure before feeding it to your animals.
- Also, it’s important to check the content of the ash in the manure when feeding your animals. The right content should not exceed 28 % if you are intending to feed your animals on these materials.
- The unprocessed chicken manure contains potentially harmful microorganisms like Salmonella, Clostridium, and Enterobacter spp. Processing of these waste matter is crucial if you want to make the manure free of pathogens.
- Also, feed additives such as arsenicals, antibiotics, and coccidiostats are excreted in the form of organic manure. Make sure that your cattle, fish or pigs are consuming organic manure that is free of harmful chicken feed additive
- Again some fungal species are indigenous to organic chicken manure and may lead to the production of mycotoxins. These mycotoxins are dangerous to your animals’ health when they ingest them.
- All these foreign materials in the organic chicken manure are eliminated by insulation, heat processing, chemicals, or fermentation. Once you are sure that the organic chicken manure is safe you can feed it to your animals.
Organic Chicken Manure as a Source of Fuel
You may burn your organic chicken manure directly to produce heat energy. Even though this is a good source of fuel, the problem lies in its relatively high moisture content. The moisture content should be slightly above 15 % to achieve maximum heat energy when you burn them.
Production of Biogas
Alternatively, you can harness this form of chicken waste to produce biogas through anaerobic digestion. This highly combustible gas contains 60 % of methane, 38 % carbon dioxide, a mixture of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapor.
Also known as producer gas, biogas is a source of energy for burning or fuel for combustion engines (internal). This means you can tap and use it to generate electric energy. Fermented organic chicken manure is a reliable source of fuel for renewable forms of energy at home.
Integrated Utilization of Organic Chicken Manure
When you utilize organic chicken manure appropriately, it can bring a great improvement to the sustainable natural environment. Additionally, this chicken manure can help in the elimination of flies, mosquitoes, and odor.
Reduces Disease Transmission
Chicken manure reduces the transmission of diseases, turning what is considered chicken waste into treasure. This could bring better economic, social, and ecological benefits to the society and chicken owners in particular. All chicken keeping regions can consider this noble step and choose the best methods of implementing it to benefit everyone.
Related Questions
What are the characteristics of chicken manure? The main component of the chicken manure is the organic matter. This matter raises the organic content especially in soil, thus improving its (soil) nutrient content, structure, and texture. To be precise, chicken manure adds plenty of organic colloid into the soil. At the same time, decomposing most of the organic matter into organic colloids through microbial action.
What do you need to ferment your organic chicken manure? When it comes to the organic chicken manure fermentation process, you will require special tools. These include plastic containers, mixers, a grinder, and plastic membranes. Once you have all these tools within your reach, you will need raw material, which is chicken manure. Therefore, you can choose between fried chicken and fresh chicken manure fermentation methods depending on what you want to achieve.
In Conclusion
Besides meat and eggs, chickens are a great source of organic manure for better crop yields. The same organic matter can act as animal feed for pigs, fish, and even cattle. Much to your surprise, you can still use organic chicken manure as your fuel source at home. This can save you a lot of cash while keeping the environment clean.
Below is a Pinterest friendly photo…. so you don’t lose this post!!
