Mother Earth News Blogs > Homesteading and Livestock

Homesteading and Livestock

Self-reliance and sustainability in the 21st century.

Chicken Manure Fertilizer: Let Your Chickens Make Mulch

What’s your idea of a delicious and wholesome breakfast? A fluffy, organic egg omelet made with fresh vegetables? Perhaps scrambled eggs and roasted garden veggies? No matter what your preference, it may surprise you to learn the link between the eggs and vegetables. According to Georgia Master Gardener Sandi White, chickens and vegetables support one another. White’s garden overflows due to the nutrient-rich organic mulch produced by her chickens. White keeps the “Chicken Ladies,” as she affectionately refers to her Silver Ameraucanas and Rhode Island Red hens, in their “chicken condo.” White supplies the chicken condo with a heap of straw, which she constantly switches out to incorporate into her garden soil. This chicken manure fertilizer ensures that White’s land, previously devoid of proper nourishment for a garden due to over farming, remains nutrient-rich. 

White yields so much produce that despite canning, pickling, and hauling vegetables to market, she has leftovers to feed a portion of her garden to the Chicken Ladies. The Ladies lay delicious eggs as a result of their healthy environment. When White’s chickens are not laying eggs, they frolic in the straw, mixing and adding to the miracle mulch.

White’s continued dedication to keeping a healthy environment for the Ladies renders exquisite eggs and crisp, bright vegetables. In addition to wholesome food, White also enjoys beautiful and affectionate chickens. White achieved her goal to produce high-quality garden mulch by thinking outside the box … but inside the omelet.