The Eco-Friendly Chicken Coop

There is a growing awareness about the impact of anything people do on the environment and it is something that should have been raised a long time ago. Still, it is not too late to ensure that from this point forward, whatever can be done to help the environment should be done, even if it means something as simple as building a chicken coop. It's a small step, but it's a start.

Useful not Wasteful

As with any living thing that will consume food products, chickens will produce wastes from the food that they cannot digest. Fortunately, this waste is not really 'waste' per se. It can be plant fertilizer.

Chickens are herbivores, they do not need to consume meat and other types of animal protein or fat to survive, which makes their manure ideal as fertilizer. It has the necessary balance of nitrogen, phosphate, and potash to help your plants grow greener and lush.

Gathering and Storage

 

It will take a while to get used to the smell of chicken manure, but if you want to be able to use it, you really will have to. To gather all the waste that your chickens will make, lay down a layer of straw beneath the chicken coop to catch it. After the straws are soiled, sweep those up and put them in a compost bin with all the other vegetable scraps from your kitchen. Have them chopped into smaller pieces for faster decomposing.

Do not include animal products or by-products in the compost bin. If you include animal products and by-products by mistake, you will know right away because you will see maggots from the soldier flies in it. Don't panic, soldier flies are quite harmless and they will get rid of the animal materials.

Be sure to aerate the compost by mixing it now and then. This will make sure that all the materials in there are broken down into reusable parts. After a while the compost will lose the offensive smell, and smell earthy and musky. You will then be able to use it by placing it on top of the soil to fertilize plants that have already taken root or mix with the ground soil for new plantations.

If you can't use all of the compost that you have made, simply put them in sacks and store them away. If you have neighbors who like planting, offer some to them for their yard or garden.

Saving the Environment

Making your own compost from the chicken waste serves two eco-friendly purposes: you get to reduce the waste that needs to be thrown out, and you produce fertilizer that has no negative impact on the environment. Add that to the fact that you get fresh eggs in the morning- what more can you ask for?