So now you know I have three lovely (ie quiet) chickens. Honey (get it…. honey chicken!? ha!) is my youngest’s. Rosie O’Pecker is my eldest’s and is named after our sweet murdered Rosie vonPecker. Ding Dong is my son’s…. guess who named her?
Three chickens equals three eggs per day. It also means more chook poo per day than I thought one would produce in a month. Oh my, I was totally NOT expecting quite so much poo!
There are some problems with having so much poo around. The first one is that each morning, I am collecting three delicious eggs covered in much less appetising dressings. Now I understand that this is to be expected… seeing as both the egg and the poo pretty much come out of the same vicinity of the chook. But really, sometimes its ridiculous. My husband once told me I am not to wash my little treasures, but I figure, seeing as we sell some of them, that it is much more presentable without a layer of poo.
My other problem with the poo is that the chook run also contains my clothes line. Its a little unusual to place my lovely clean, drying clothes in amongst such droppings, and I have on occasion had to re-wash certain items that have fallen on the grass. But the main issue is my footwear. When I need to hang up my clothes, I have to change out of my usual footwear (which is usually something comfortable and warm!) into my garden boots or thongs (aka flip flops for all you non-Aussies!) Not only do I have to change my footwear, but also any guests’, and my children’s when they want to join me.
The children have been quite surprising when it comes to the chicken poo. My son loves to join me out in the chook run when I am hanging out the clothes, or cleaning up the chook poo, or collecting eggs. He grabs a little trowel, a small bucket, and “scoops the poop” (as we call it). He loves to collect the poo and dump it in the compost tumbler – the only place chicken poo like this belongs. It is amazing that such a chore would appeal to him (he’s only 2), but I’m not going to discourage him!
The last problem with the poo has been the flies. It seems that no matter how many chickens you have, flies are going to be an issue and if you don’t keep the poo situation under control then flies will become a point of stress between you and your chickens – which we don’t want. A couple of things have worked for us. The first is just keeping the level of poo in the area at a minimum by continually picking up and composting the poo. The second thing has been a fly trap. We bought our trap from the local hardware store. The bait, however is a bit of a problem. I believe that it actually attracts more flies into the area as it smells SOOOOOOOOO BAAAAAAAD! Although it collects heaps of flies, it is almost excessive. It needs draining two or three times a week – which is NOT a pleasant chore due to the stench. Hubby has suggested that I change the bait to some liquified chook poo. So far, after just one week, I have noticed a drop in the fly numbers in the chook run, and the trap seems to still be catching the odd fly. However time will tell as both the flies and the traps seem to enjoy the warmer weather better, and we are finally seeing some cooler weather here in Sydney,
If any of you are considering getting chooks, I must advise you that you need a poo plan. What are you going to do with it all? I was so naive when I first had the chickens, and I just started putting it all fresh on the garden…. well that’s not wise at all! It seems chicken poo needs time to break down, either in a compost, or in the form of a brew. When I heard it could be brewed, I simply placed the poo in a bucket with some water, gave it a stir, and put it on the garden. Also, a bad idea! It needs time to brew, say a few weeks. Since all of those attempts were a failure, I have discovered that composting the poo is the only way for us to go. Just chuck it in the tumbler, give it a whirl, add some other compostable items and some water and Bob’s your uncle. My only dilemma now is keeping the nitrogen levels down, as with so much chook poo it will be quite nitrogen rich. Any ideas would be appreciated!
(the lack of photos in this post reflects the nature of the subject. I just didn’t think you would appreciate a picture of chook poo as you ate your breakfast!)
Confessions of a Brown Thumb 
This post is fantastic! I’m a beginner gardener from Australia- but I’m gardening in northern California. I envy you your poo problem! I can’t have chickens right at this moment but would love to. Question: Do you get the newspaper? If you do, do you shred it and compost it? It is a wonderful way to increase carbon content when you have too much nitrogen. Check and see if your newspaper is soy-ink based if your picky about what goes in your compost. You can also cardboard- as long as its not the glossy type.
I miss Australia so much but I DO NOT miss the flies! Good luck with your blog and your gardening. I will be following you 🙂
Awww thanks. I do love my chicjens but the flies are annoying to say the least!
Composting newspapers is a great idea. Thanks for the tip and thanks for following!