Raising Chickens & Sustainable Living

Find out how to compost chicken feces and how chickens can reduce landfill trash. Raising chickens can reduce the amount of trash going into landfills, significantly reduce pesky insect populations, and their feces can be composted and used as fertilizer for lawns and gardens. See the statistics below the huge difference raising chickens makes on landfill waste cost. 

Statistics on landfill waste

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Bonnie and Angelina. Rescued chickens at CHOE. 2018
Sustainable living is a real hot topic these days and it is defined as a way of life which is based on energy saving, recycling, and taking responsibility for our health and our environment. Raising chickens represents a sustainable lifestyle because it reduces the amount of trash that goes into landfills, causes the commercial egg industry to lose business which reduces the amount of chickens who suffer horrific abuses for the sole purpose of providing meat and eggs for your table. Another reason raising chickens is  considered as a sustainable lifestyle is the fact that their feces can easily be properly composted to make fertilizer for gardens and lawns. If done properly it will not contaminate the water supply. Backyard and small chicken farms provide farm fresh eggs with less chance of contracting salmonella which is very dangerous.

Amount of  Waste that Goes into American Landfills Each Year 

These statistics are a minimum, each year as our population grows more and more waste goes into our landfills. How Much Waste goes into American landfills each year?
"Americans waste or cause to be wasted nearly 1 million pounds of materials per person every year. 
This figure includes:
  • 3.5 billion pounds of carpet landfilled
  • 3.3 trillion pounds of CO2 gas emitted into the atmosphere
  • 19 billion pounds of polystyrene peanuts, 28 billion pounds of food discarded
  • 360 billion pounds of organic and inorganic chemicals used for manufacturing
  • 710 billion pounds of hazardous waste
  • 3.7 trillion pounds of construction debris.""  
Reference: Student Archive. Utah EDU. http://students.arch.utah.edu/courses/Arch4011/Recycling%20Facts1.pdf

This huge amount of waste at 360 billion pounds of organic and inorganic chemicals can be reduced by raising chickens! Much of organic refuse comes from waste such as food scraps which can easily be fed to chickens. Every year, each American throws out about 1,200 pounds of organic garbage that can be composted.  The chickens will eat the scraps which will reduce the amount of feed you need to buy (food scraps should not replace regular feed) which saves you money and reduces the amount of food scraps which go into the landfills. 
How much organic trash is thrown away each year per person?
"Every year, each Americans throws out about 1,200 pounds of organic garbage that can be composted." 
Reference: Recycling facts. (2011). http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
For example, Let's say, chickens were fed half this amount which would be 600 lbs of table scraps, vegetable peelings, etc. per person per year and multiply that by the amount of people in your family. This would mean a family of 4 would throw away approx. 2400 pounds of organic waste per year. That same 2400 pounds of waste per year which could be utilized. Much of it could be fed to chickens and the rest could be composted to be used for lawns and gardens. Many people raising backyard chickens who have started composting chicken feces and organic materials the chickens will not eat have found that soon neighbors want to not only buy their chickens eggs but will buy the composted manure as well. "When we started composting our chicken manure and organic waste not only did our lawn and garden grow beautifully but our neighbors started buying composted manure from us for  their lawns and gardens."-Rev. Penny Dean 

Why Organic, sustainable farming matters

How to Compost Chicken Feces

Can I use chicken feces in my compost?
Chicken feces can be used in compost because it is high in nitrogen and will make lawns and gardens grow at a fantastic rate. You cannot use feces straight from your hen house to your garden because the nitrogen is so strong it will burn the plants. However, you can compost the chicken manure with other organic materials and your garden will grow very fast.
About Composting Chicken Manure. 
"If you are not familiar with composting and need to learn how, contact the Seattle Tilth Garden hotline at 206-633-0224.  Hotline staff will provide you with information about the components of composting:  Carbon (browns - your coop bedding), Nitrogen (greens - your chicken manure), air, moisture, volume, and temperature." 

Memory Verse

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3 NIV

Questions & Answers: Can I Use Chicken Feces in My Garden

​See important questions and answers about using chicken poop in your garden.

Chickens in Your Garden-Fertilizer?

​​What you need to know about using chickens in your garden for fertilizer. Fresh chicken feces will burn your plants. If you want to let your chickens in your garden do so in the fall after harvest and during the winter but do not let them play in your gardens you use for food while plants are growing and maturing.
References:
​Why Organic, Sustainable Farming Matters | Portrait of a Farmer. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 22 October 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD5jnxhne7o