Backyard Chickens And Lawn Fertilizer

Chicken manure is an excellent source of organic fertilizer for both the lawn and garden.

Backyard chickens and lawn fertilizer.

Many of the plants that we call weeds are plants that chickens love chickweed dandelions wild strawberry violets and clover. Manure from free range chickens can break down naturally in the yard providing valuable nutrients for the lawn. Scotts organic choice is made from feather and blood meal. Rather than fertilizing with conventional fertilizers put your chickens to work.

There s a local fertilizer out of longmont called richlawn and it s made from ground up chickens perhaps not the most appropriate but it would be an option. Alternatively a small amount of chicken poop is an effective fertilizer. Left unattended the compost will be ready for use as fertilizer in 6 12 months. There is no better fertilizer for your lawn than what your birds are already producing.

The antics of chickens are part of the joy of raising a backyard flock. Just read the label to see what is the source of the fertilizer. Another is alphalawn made from alfalfa. In the small confines of a chicken run the swift layering buildup of chicken poop smothers and chemically burns the grass obliterating anything growing in a new run within a week.

A complete natural organic lawn food will have low npk nitrogen phosphorus potassium numbers most always below 10. The correct balance for free range chickens is about 250 square feet of space per chicken. It can be added to an existing compost bin but does just fine combined with carbon based matter such as fallen leaves or dry grass clipping and left in a pile or corralled in chicken wire bins. Chickens are beneficial to an organic lawn by mowing it with their grazing ability eating any insects and worms in the lawn and leaving their manure as a precious fertilizer.

Chicken manure is a superstar for composting. There has to be a balance between the size of your lawn and the size of your chicken flock. In fact their poo is high in nitrogen and it also contains potassium and phosphorus. Fertilizers contain lawn chemicals like pesticides that can emit toxic vapors cause digestive issues or even damage chickens nervous systems.