POULTRY DROPPINGS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1938, Page 12

POULTRY DROPPINGS

AN IMPORTANT MANURE. An important manure which is not always prepared and utilised as it should be is poultry manure. Poultry manure is very similar in character to guano, but is not so rich in plant food. The birds whose excrements form guano, but is not rich in plant food. The birds whose exrements form guano feed on fish, but the food of poultry is of a vegetable nature; nevertheless, the latter is one of the richest of the natural manures, it being four times as valuable as the best farmyard manure. It is not an easy substance to use, as it is of a sticky nature when new and lumpy when dry and matured. The nitrogen in the excrements is present as urate and carbonate of ammonia. These two are very liable to escape into the air and be lost Poultry manure must be in a fairly dry and powdery condition if it is to be applied easily, but care must be exercised in preparing it, or the best part (the nitrogen) will be lost. The best means of dealing with it is to have a large tub or box, then place a layer of manure from 4in to 6in in depth, then covering it with a layer of fine soil, or hops, with a sprinkling of new lime (shell) or crushed oyster shell (oceanic lime). Continue this until the tub or box is full. Let it remain for two or three months. Then it may be taken out and well mixed together. If passed

through a coarse sieve it will be ready for use, and all crops will benefit where it is used. If lime is sprinkled over the floors of the pens from time to time, this will greatly help to form the droppings into a powdery substance and will, also help it to mature quickly when placed in the tubs or boxes.