Black Gold: Chicken Droppings as Fertilizer

If you’re a chicken keeper, you aren’t just raising birds—you’re managing a high-end fertilizer factory! Chicken manure is often called "Black Gold" by gardeners because it is one of the most nutrient-dense fertilizers on the planet.

However, using it straight from the coop is a recipe for disaster. Here is everything you need to know about turning your flock's "deposits" into the secret weapon for your garden.

Why You Can’t Use it "Raw"

Fresh chicken poop is considered "hot." This means it is so high in nitrogen and ammonia that it will physically burn the roots and leaves of your plants, potentially killing them overnight. It also contains raw pathogens like Salmonella or E. coli.

To make it safe, you must compost it first. This stabilizes the nitrogen and uses heat to kill off harmful bacteria and weed seeds.

A mixture of bedding and chicken droppings piled up in a heap for the compost

How to Compost Chicken Poop: Step-by-Step

1. The Magic Ratio (Browns vs. Greens)

Composting is all about balance.

The Greens (Nitrogen): This is your chicken manure and any kitchen scraps.

The Browns (Carbon): This is the bedding from your coop (straw, pine shavings, or dried leaves).

The Goal: Aim for roughly 2 parts "Brown" to 1 part "Green." If you use the deep litter method in your coop, you usually have a perfect mix ready to go the moment you shovel it out!

2. Pile it Up

Create a pile of droppings. The size is crucial because a greater mass allows the center of the pile to get hot enough and maintain a temperature required for all the various organisms and bacteria to actively break down the manure (A pile measuring about 3x3x3 feet is the recommended minimum).

3. Monitor Heat & Moisture

Temperature: For safety, your pile needs to reach 55°C to 70°C (130°F–160°F) for at least three days to kill pathogens.

Moisture: It should feel like a wrung-out sponge. If it’s too dry, the microbes stop working; too wet, and it will start to smell like a swamp.

4. Let it Age (The Patience Phase)

Hot Composting: If you turn the pile weekly, it can be ready in 3–4 months.

Cold/Lazy Composting: If you just leave it in a heap, wait at least 6–12 months before putting it on your vegetables.

Bacteria, organisms and worms will break the manure down during composting if the right temperature is maintained

What plants can I use it with?

Because chicken manure is high in Nitrogen (for leaves), Phosphorus (for roots/fruit), and Potassium (for overall health), it is a "complete" fertilizer.

A Note for Root Crops: Be careful with carrots and beets. Too much nitrogen can cause them to grow beautiful "hair" and tops, but forked or stunted roots.

Flower and vegetable beds will benefit from chicken manure

Keeping the "Factory" Running

To get the best fertilizer, your chickens need to be healthy and active. A bird that is moving and foraging produces better quality waste!

Consider letting your chickens free range, using chicken fencing.

Use a "tractor" coop with wheels that can be moved around your garden. Use can add wheels and handles to Omlet Eglu coops.

Add an extension to your moduler Omlet Eglu coop run to give your chickens more room, or consider a larger walk-in run to begin with.

Chicken free-ranging in a backyard garden

Consider free-ranging your chickens to keep them active and foraging

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A Best Snacks for your Chickens...and What to Avoid

Nothing keeps a coop happy like snack time. Here is your ultimate guide to the best treats for your flock, the "no-go" foods, and how to make snack time an interactive event.

Chicken feed is specially formulated to meet all your chickens nutritional needs. However, adding snacks to their diet has some great advantages:

Reduce kitchen waste and use up your kitchen scraps.
Boredom busting
Keep them cool in summer
Keep them entertained in winter

Treats should only make up about 10% of your chicken's diet. Think of these as the multivitamins and mood-boosters of the coop.

🥗 The Good Stuff: Best Healthy Snacks

Leafy Greens: Kale, spinach, and Swiss chard are packed with vitamins.
Watermelon & Berries: Perfect for hydration on hot days. Chickens go wild for the seeds and the flesh!
Mealworms & Black Soldier Fly Larvae: The "gold standard" of chicken treats. High in protein, these are essential during molting season to help grow strong feathers.
Cooked Eggs: It sounds strange, but scrambled eggs are a fantastic protein source. Just make sure they are fully cooked so your hens don't develop a taste for their own raw eggs. Don't use salt or fats when cooking.
Pumpkins & Squash: Not only are they nutritious, but pecking at a whole pumpkin provides hours of natural entertainment.
Corn on the Cob Rinds - You will be amazed how your chickens will pick them clean!

🚫 The "Never" List: What to Avoid

Chickens are hardy, but some common household foods can be toxic or even fatal:

Avocado: The pits and skins contain persin, which can cause heart failure in birds.
Dry/Raw Beans: These contain phytohaemagglutinin, which is highly toxic to poultry. Always cook beans thoroughly.
Green Potatoes/Tomatoes: These belong to the nightshade family and contain solanine. While ripe tomatoes are fine, avoid anything green or the leaves of the plant.
Chocolate & Caffeine: Just like dogs, chickens cannot process theobromine or caffeine.
Salty or Moldy Scraps: Excessive salt can lead to kidney failure, and moldy food contains mycotoxins that can be lethal.
Cooked food leftovers: Leftovers from your meals will likely include salt, spices, fats, processed foods and meats that are not healthy for your chicken
Egg shells and uncooked eggs: do not encourage your chickens to eat their own eggs!
Crab Grass or grasses that still have roots attached: These very fibrous plants will get stuck in your chickens' crop and cause "impacted crop," and "sour crop."

Snacks that may affect the taste of your eggs

The taste of your eggs is highly sensitive to the hen's diet. Because the yolk is composed primarily of fats and proteins synthesized from what the bird eats, certain strong flavors can "leach" into the egg.

While the following snacks may be perfectly non-toxic, you may want to avoid them for the sake of your own tastebuds:

Fish Meal & Fish Oil: While great for protein, if it makes up more than 1–2% of their total diet, the eggs will take on a distinct fishy taste, due to an excess of Omega-3 fatty acids.
Flaxseed (Linseed): Often added to boost heart-healthy fats in eggs, but too much can cause a "fishy" or "dirt-like" off-flavor.
Canola Meal: Interestingly, some brown-egg-laying breeds (like Rhode Island Reds) have a genetic quirk that prevents them from breaking down a compound called choline in canola. This results in a fishy-smelling egg.
Onions & Garlic Members of the Allium family contain high concentrations of sulfur compounds. The strong flavours of these foods definitely get transferred to the eggs.
Cabbage & Brassicaceae: Vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower contain glucosinolates. In high quantities, these can impart a slightly bitter or "cabbagey" flavor to the yolk.

Turn Snack Time into Play Time

If you simply toss treats on the ground, the "alpha" hens usually gobble them up before the others get a chance. Plus, bored chickens often turn to "naughty" behaviors like feather pecking or egg eating.

That’s where our Peck Toys come in!

Peck Toys are designed to bridge the gap between nutrition and enrichment. By placing treats inside a toy, you:

Stop the Bullying: It spreads out the feeding process so everyone gets a turn.
Exercise Their Brains: It mimics the natural foraging behavior chickens crave.
End Coop Boredom: Especially during winter or "coop-in" days, a peck toy keeps them moving and engaged.