# Pigeon Manure as Fertilizer?



## PigeonMadness

I've been doing tons of research and have not found a single website or page that was detailed enough in describing the steps necessary to to create fertilizer from pigeon manure. Has anyone had any success in doing so? I've read that pigeon manure is very helpful in plants once in the form of fertilizer but I dont know how to do it! I have pigeons and I'm looking for an alternative for their manure. I also need other questions answered. So is it safe to use pigeon manure for things that are to be eaten? for example vegetables. Also i read that it is not advised to use the manure once the pigeons are sitting on eggs. is this true? then lastly, is it okay to use baby pigeon manure because I've noticed that they are slightly different from that of the parents. Aside from being smaller they smell different and are watery. any help would be appreciated and again please be as detailed as possible! thanks a ton guys.


----------



## MaryOfExeter

As long as the birds are healthy, I have no problem putting it in the garden - no matter which birds it is from. During the off season for your garden, you can just dump it directly in. But if you want to apply it while there are plants growing, you may want to compost it first. The reason being, is that pigeon droppings are very high in nitrogen, and applying it directly to plants without composting, can burn them.
Don't worry about getting sick from the things you eat in the garden. Just give the vegetables a good washing, and all will be fine 
Putting table scraps in the garden is also great for fertilizer. Around here, just about all we have is that lovely red clay mud. My grandfather used to put all the peelings, egg shells, and any other scraps like that, in the garden, as well as ashes from the woodstove, and leaves/grass from mowing and raking the yard. It probably got all that good stuff for about 60 years. Now that red clay is black dirt that everything grows in!
Really the only thing you'll want to try avoid getting in your garden is non-composted wood. So if what you want to put in your garden is a lot of wood shavings with little droppings, you may want to compost it for a while with a lot of organic stuff. The reason why is the bacteria that decomposes wood requires a lot of nitrogen. If they can't get what they need from the wood, they'll start taking it from the soil - and therefore, from the plants. But if you've got a lot of droppings mixed in with it, then those little bacteria should have all they need without hurting the plants


----------



## Pawbla

I wouldn't use it on vegetables because, well, I like my food without poop xD. But I don't think it'd be bad if you have healthy birds.
Be careful with the pigeon poop because there are very delicate plants who will not appreciate it, as it's very rich in nitrogen.


----------



## MaryOfExeter

Here's some composting stuff. I just learned that pigeon/bird droppings are also very high in phosphorus  That makes two of the 3 main macronutrients plants need (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium). So why not use it if you've got it? 
http://www.primalseeds.org/compost.htm#wha
http://www.keeping-chickens.co.uk/chicken-manure-compost-bin/


----------



## sky tx

It can't be beat
I put the pigeon poop in my compost pile.-till it in good-Then the garden.


----------



## John_D

We put it in the compost bins and let it mature, and in time it comes out the bottom nice and crumbly and ready for the garden. There's a guy next but one to Cynthia who uses the results for his potato crop, and swears it's the best fertilizer he ever used 

John


----------



## sreeshs

Let me share something which we do here in this mainland

Almost all kinds of poops are used as fertilizers in our fields, starting from garden plants to the commercial vegetable plantations. This include that obtained from cow, buffalo, ox, goats, sheep, chicken etc. People who keep pigeon and who gets adequate amounts of pigeon poop use them also. These are all dried in the sun, crushed and powdered and again left in sun, its not burned. In raw form its used in bio gas plants as an alternative to cooking gas.

Specific to pigeon poop, its more hot compared to other manure, so you will need to increase the amount of water poured to the vegetation/flowering plants.


----------



## PigeonMadness

Thanks guys. The information here was very useful. I have never done any composting work before and I was thinking if the rumors were true, why not put in pigeon droppings too?! again thanks for the responses, I shall start it soon!


----------



## austriancurls

I am new here but I wanted to share a comment on this thread. Pigeon droppings have been used as a fertilizer since the middle ages, and earlier (they used them in ancient times too). It was like gold, because it is one of the best fertilizers containing more nurtrients for plants than horse or cow manure. 

I've read a lot about how to make Pigeon Dropping Tea to water vegetables with. It stinks so be warned, wear appropriate clothing and gloves and all while handling.

To make Pigeon Dropping Tea, collect a good sized amount of droppings. Make sure they are dry. If they are not dry, allow them to dry (spread them out somewhere to dry). Put them in an old pillow case. Weight them. Fill a large plastic barrel with a lid with 10 times the weight of water to droppings. Place the closed pillow case in the barrel and let sit 3-4 weeks, stirring regularly. 

This forms a concentrate. When using this, dilute the concentrate 1:20 with water. So, 1 cup of concentrate Pigeon Droppings Tea with 19 cups of water. You can then water vegetables with this. Be sure not to pour it directly onto the plants, but rather around them. It will stink to high heaven, but is the best natural fertilizer you can get.

Best,
K


----------



## Pawbla

PS. I have a terrestrial orchid that grows next to a tree that is next to a nest (lol) so there are a few dropping on the soil. (Mind you, the pot is very small and the orchid too so "a few droppings" are a lot xD). I still haven't seen anything bad and since it was growing fine I just let them stay.


----------



## bcr1

When I clean my loft I just put the poop right in the garden. Sometimes I put it on the ground under the plants and it seams to be doing great. What I don't put on plants i put on unused parts of the garden and they will be ready for next year.


----------



## romel20010

*i want to make compost tea*

hiii 4 all i am here new friend ...w ith you and i want the steps to make compost tea with manure pigeons .. i have many of manure pigeons and i need to try to make something .... any one helppp ..plzzz

thxx send me on my email 
[email protected] 



and if some one have video in this plzz send me the link to check it


----------



## chayi

Yes we use it here also and its absolutely no problem for veggies and fruits, plants flowers and trees even for the grass, just dry it in the sun, crush and powder it once its powdered you can sprinkle it all over and lots of water as with all fertilizers grass turns very nice and green everything looks nice and healthy.


----------



## hankabus

Ive heard it has a neutral PH so it won't burn your plants wet or dry. But Ive never really tried it. Its going into the tomatoes this year..

Hank


----------



## Knoc

I would imagine it is like chicken poop when it comes to fertilizer. It would probably be best to put on in the fall and let seep throughout the winter. Otherwise with fresh poop it might be too strong and burn your plants/seeds. Otherwise as long as it is good and dry, I dont see it doing any harm.


----------



## Quazar

In England in medieval times, the large stone dovecotes found on may estates that covered the countryside used to be guarded by armed gaurds.
Not to protect the birds, but to stop plunderers from raiding the dovecote for the droppings, as they were highly sought after for their high nutritional content to use as manure, and were more valuable than some livestock.

Now why dont they build some sort of trap under bridges, would protect the structure, gather the droppings & make a fortune from recycling lol


----------



## spirit wings

Quazar said:


> In England in medieval times, the large stone dovecotes found on may estates that covered the countryside used to be guarded by armed gaurds.
> Not to protect the birds, but to stop plunderers from raiding the dovecote for the droppings, as they were highly sought after for their high nutritional content to use as manure, and were more valuable than some livestock.
> 
> Now why dont they build some sort of trap under bridges, would protect the structure, gather the droppings & make a fortune from recycling lol


They do it with bats and chickens...not sure how they get the bat guano...but it is good stuff..


----------



## Tonythegardener

The pigeon manure has a ratio of 4/2/1 which is fairly good going in the realms of manuring NPK ratios. Chicken Manure (fresh) has a NPK ratio of 1.6/1.5/1.0 so pigeon muck compares very well with this. Now I don't really think that I should give an awful lot of credence to these ratios because I got them from the internet and you should never believe anything you see on the internet. Having said that, it does give you a rule of thumb. 

It is obvious from the ammonia smell coming off the pigeon muck that it is very high in nitrogen. And loads of people tell you how good chicken manure is and I agree with them. So if pigeon muck is like chicken manure, it will be a valuable addition to the soil. However, the high levels of nitrogen can damage roots and foliage unless pigeon muck is added with care. This is why I am adding the manure now - in January and February, when there are no plants growing in the soil, so that it can rot down a little more during the winter. By the time I plant potatoes the concentration of nitrogen should be at a level that will not cause damage. The damage that it causes roots is due to the high concentration of salts in the rhizosphere that cause water to be drawn out of roots desiccating them. This is what people call burning the roots.


----------



## kirk jinks

i was hoping to set a state record for tallest tomato plant in oregon or wherever ? i'm an inventor and have been doing some work on creating a high grade fertalizer that is easy to manufacture and pigeon turds are one of the elements i have used that have shown fantastic results growing tomato plants as tall as 20 feet tall i believe i can grow tomato plants up to or over 30 feet tall and produce a great amount of fruit at the same time. an easy method to use pigeon fertalizer is to fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full pigeon turds and 1/2 with water ,stir,then let sit in the sun for 2 days then screw an empty soup can on the end of a discarded broomstick or piece of 1x1 or 1x2 stick about 3 feet in length ,use the can and stick to feed 1 can of the water and fertalizer mixture to each one of your garden plants once per week. rabbit turds work great too. just add more water to the bucket and stir when needed till you use up the solids then throw another batch togather etc etc...good luck


----------



## Jay3

kirk jinks said:


> i was hoping to set a state record for tallest tomato plant in oregon or wherever ? i'm an inventor and have been doing some work on creating a high grade fertalizer that is easy to manufacture and pigeon turds are one of the elements i have used that have shown fantastic results growing tomato plants as tall as 20 feet tall i believe i can grow tomato plants up to or over 30 feet tall and produce a great amount of fruit at the same time. an easy method to use pigeon fertalizer is to fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full pigeon turds and 1/2 with water ,stir,then let sit in the sun for 2 days then screw an empty soup can on the end of a discarded broomstick or piece of 1x1 or 1x2 stick about 3 feet in length ,use the can and stick to feed 1 can of the water and fertalizer mixture to each one of your garden plants once per week. rabbit turds work great too. just add more water to the bucket and stir when needed till you use up the solids then throw another batch togather etc etc...good luck




You are talking about manure tea, and yes, it is great for the plants. Actually though, rabbit manure can be used fresh as it won't burn the plants. Bird poop is hot and should be either used in a tea as you have described, or composted and then used.


----------

