Pigeon droppings as a fertilizer: how to apply, review

Bird droppings and, in particular, pigeon droppings are considered the most highly effective for plant nutrition, easy to use. Organic fertilizer is very popular among gardeners because of its effectiveness and availability. Despite the ease of use, soil fertilization should be carried out according to certain rules.

Can pigeon droppings be used as fertilizer?

Pigeon manure was widely used as a fertilizer due to its chemical composition. It includes trace elements and essential nutrients. The action of fertilizer is fast and more productive than manure. When growing various crops, the assimilation of organic matter gives good yields.

In pigeon manure, the amount of trace elements is greater than in horse or cattle manure. This is due to the peculiarities of nutrition and the structure of the digestive system of birds. The content of nitrogen in the waste products of pigeons is 4 times more than in horse manure, and phosphorus is 8 times more than in cow manure.

Mineral fertilizers increase yields, but can accumulate in the final product. This is manifested in the excess of the norm of the content of nitrates in vegetables and fruits. Pigeon litter is environmentally friendly. All trace elements in it are well absorbed by plants.

The use of wild pigeon waste is not recommended. Their diet is unregulated and may include waste contaminated with parasites and infections. To prevent their spread, it is impossible to use pigeon droppings of wild birds.

Which is better – pigeon or chicken droppings

Most often, gardeners and gardeners use chicken manure. It contains magnesium oxide, lime, phosphoric acid, sulfur, potassium. It is rich in nitrogen. Chicken manure is able to provide nutrition to garden crops without increasing the concentration of salts in the soil.

Comparing chicken with duck, they note a greater amount of nutrients in the first. Feeding with pigeon droppings is used much less frequently, since this bird is not often bred on an industrial scale. At the same time, it is the most efficient. In the fresh state, pigeon is superior to chicken in terms of nitrogen content (17,9%) and phosphoric acid (18%), but the composition largely depends on the poultry feed.

The benefits of fertilizer include:

• rich chemical composition;
• high-speed performance;
• long-term storage capacity;
• the possibility of using in different forms;
• making good quality compost.

With the correct use of pigeon manure, the structure of the soil, its chemical composition improves, saturation with nutrients occurs, which enhances the biological activity of the soil.

Composition of pigeon droppings

The chemical composition of pigeon droppings depends on what the birds are fed with. The herbal and legume diet of pigeons results in an increase in nitrogen. Grain with chalk additives – helps to increase potassium, calcium in the composition of the fertilizer. In addition, it includes:

• magnesium;
• manganese;
• iron;
• calcium;
• molybdenum;
• sulfur;
• boron.

The longer the pigeon manure is stored, the lower the nitrogen content. A particularly rapid drop in the indicator occurs when it is kept in open heaps. To preserve the beneficial properties of the fertilizer, it is necessary to properly store it: in closed, dry or liquid forms.

What is useful pigeon droppings

The benefits of using pigeon manure are not only plant nutrition. The ingress of organic matter into the soil stimulates the development of microorganisms and the attraction of earthworms. They secrete waste products, process plant residues and increase the amount of humates useful to plants and humans. Humic acids, obtained by the body through products, strengthen the immune system, cleanse from toxins.

If you use pigeon droppings instead of mineral fertilizers, the composition and structure of the soil improves. The amount of phosphorus and nitrogen is quite sufficient to provide plant nutrition. If you use wood ash as a potash fertilizer, then the resulting products will be environmentally friendly. The best time to apply dry top dressing is spring or autumn. In the spring, dry pigeon droppings are used three weeks before planting. Time is needed to reduce the concentration of nitrogen and saturate the soil with microelements.

How to collect and store pigeon manure

It is worth collecting pigeon droppings only from poultry in order to eliminate the risk of psittacosis. For storage, several methods are used:

• mixing with sawdust;
• drying and packaging in paper or conventional bags;
• falling asleep with layers of peat and straw for decay;
• burning to ash (however, nitrogen is lost).

When storing pigeon manure in its raw form, most of the beneficial properties soon disappear. Fertilizer must be placed in a room without moisture already dried.

This can be done both in natural conditions, directly on dovecotes, and in thermal ovens. In the second case, the fertilizer is disinfected at high temperature.

In many countries of the world, pigeon manure fertilizer is ground into powder after drying. After that, it is used as an aqueous solution in a ratio of 1 to 10.

How to use pigeon droppings as fertilizer

From each pigeon you can get 3 kg of litter per month. There are several ways to use it as a fertilizer.

You can regularly collect it in the attic, dovecote, store and use for composting. To speed up the process, it is necessary to take a wooden box with slots at least 5 cm wide. The holes are needed for the flow of oxygen and ventilation. The compost is prepared in layers consisting of pigeon manure, leaves, straw, peat, grass. The nitrogen component does not exceed a quarter of all components. To quickly obtain compost, you need a special solution that irrigates each layer. The acceleration of maturation is facilitated by the constant shoveling of the mixture.

In addition to compost, pigeon manure can be used in a dry form, in an aqueous solution, industrial granules.

In dry form

Top dressing is often used for root crops, fruit trees and berry bushes. Fertilizer with dry pigeon droppings for potatoes and vegetables is especially effective. To this end, when landing on 1 square. m contribute 50 g of dry matter.

The amount of fertilizer applied under a fruit tree depends on its size. For a small one, 4 kg is enough, for an adult, about 15 kg per season is required. Litter is applied in spring or autumn. It is scattered evenly around the trunk circle, burying it with a 10-centimeter layer of soil.

Do not use dry pigeon manure for clay soil without first sanding it, lightening it, improving its structural qualities.

in liquid form

It is believed that the application of a solution is more effective than a dry fertilizer. The effect comes faster, but it is necessary to dilute the pigeon droppings correctly so as not to harm the plants:

1. The dry matter is placed in a container.
2. Pour water in proportion to the litter 1 to 10, respectively.
3. For 10 liters of solution add 2 tablespoons of ash and a tablespoon of superphosphate.
4. Fermentation is monitored for two weeks, stirring occasionally.
5. The precipitate of the solution is not used.

Top dressing is carried out in spring or autumn with a frequency of once every two weeks. You can fertilize the area with liquid before digging, feed the strawberries before fruiting by watering the row spacing from a watering can. Immediately after applying liquid top dressing, the plant is abundantly watered with water.

Feeding rules

The use of pigeon manure as a fertilizer is possible for loamy soils, chernozems. In such soil there is the necessary amount of moisture and humus for the absorption of nitrogen. Its use on sandy soil due to lack of moisture does not make sense. In the case of lime in the soil, pigeon droppings begin to release ammonia.

Spring fertilization provides an increase in the yield of crops grown on the site for 3 years. The use of pigeon manure in the form of compost, in fresh, dry, granular forms, increases fruiting in the first year by 65%, in the second – by 25%, in the third – by 15%.

Fresh top dressing is recommended before winter. As it decomposes, it saturates the soil with nutrients. The introduction of fresh fertilizer in the spring is contraindicated, since a burn and rotting of the plant roots is possible. At this time, liquid forms of top dressing are most appropriate. Dry manure and granules are best applied during autumn digging.

Features of fertilizer of different crops

Potatoes are the most commonly grown crop in garden plots. Organic bird fertilizer for it is used in three ways:

• in liquid form – a third of a bucket of pigeon manure is diluted with water, after four days it is diluted 20 times and watered 0,5 liters per hole;
• dried or granulated substance – added before planting;
• dry – scatter over the area for digging at the rate of 50 g per 1 sq. m.

After the potato gains green mass, organic fertilizer should be stopped so that its forces are directed to the formation of tubers.

Tomatoes are fed with a solution of pigeon droppings to increase their green mass. The concentration and method of preparing the fertilizer are the same as for potatoes. Application is recommended before flowering. Later, tomatoes need potassium for fruit formation and growth.

Garden trees are fed in spring with a solution of pigeon droppings, pouring it into a specially dug furrow at a distance of 0,7 m from the trunk.

Flower and berry crops are given fertilizer in the form of an aqueous solution during the growing season twice a month. Three weeks before picking berries, top dressing should be stopped.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that pigeon manure as a fertilizer is recognized as highly effective, it should be used with caution, observing the norm, taking into account the place of collection. If the allowable amount is exceeded, a significant increase in green mass can be obtained and, at the same time, the absence of fruits. Plant death is possible due to an excess of nitrogen.

With the right concentration and the right timing of fertilizing the soil with pigeon droppings, it is possible to get a rich harvest of any of the crops. At the same time, berries, vegetables and fruits are environmentally friendly.

Reviews of pigeon litter as a fertilizer