Faith Farm

Secret of a really great garden

Know your poop!  Fertilizer from animal droppings can make a garden.  I'll only be talking about the poop I know so the other information is just FYI.  Rabbit and Goat poop are perfect for just about any garden.  The use of manure saves the high cost of inorganic fertilizers. Moreover, it helps clean the farm of wastes.  Double the benefit.  This is the time of year that I take all my collected poop and hay from the barns and work it into the garden.  I also use the dry pellets to put around my trees and berry bushes.  You will be amazed at the difference in your garden.  Now gardening has always been a hobby for me-I have tried many techniques-the use of rabbit and goat pellets have yielded me the best success so far.  I use the dried pellets directly into my garden when I feel it is neccesary.  Don't do this with other types of manure---you can and will burn your garden up!  Been there done that.   Now I have seen many people grow directly in goat/rabbit poop in containers with alot of success.  I have not done that myself...I plan on trying some container gardening in the spring to improve production and I'll let you know how it worked.  below is a chart of NPK values of different manure types.  Use what you have available...Ask other farmers if they can spare some...most will.  Just remember-Compost Hot Manures-give them time.  Rabbit and goats are cold manure types.  I believe sheep is but don't quote me on that.  When in doubt always compost.

Table 1: Approximate NPK Values of Various Animal Manures *

animal % nitrogen % phosphoric acid % potash

Dairy cow 0.57 0.23 0.62

Beef steer 0.73 0.48 0.55

Horse 0.70 0.25 0.77

Swine 0.49 0.34 0.47

Sheep/goat 1.44 0.5 1.21

Rabbit 2.40 1.40 0.60

Chicken 1.00 0.80 0.39

* Adapted from: Anon. 1998. Fertilizer values of some manures. Countryside & Small Stock Journal. September-October. p. 75