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How to Chicken Manure a Lawn

By: Sarah Metzker Erdemir

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21 September, 2017

Synthetic fertilizers on lawns are dangerous for children and pets who play on the grass, and they can contaminate a well and groundwater. So how can a healthy, green lawn be accomplished without dangerous chemicals? Chicken manure is a great organic fertilizer. It contains a lot of nitrogen, which supports strong foliar growth, and it has a lot of potassium and phosphorus the lawn needs to thrive. The smell of chicken manure can be annoying, so a diluted manure tea is a good alternative to feeding the lawn.

Place 20 to 35 pounds of composted chicken manure into a burlap bag. The manure must have been composted for at least nine months or it could contain dangerous pathogens.

Synthetic fertilizers on lawns are dangerous for children and pets who play on the grass, and they can contaminate a well and groundwater.
The smell of chicken manure can be annoying, so a diluted manure tea is a good alternative to feeding the lawn.

Place a large stone into the bag to make it sink. Close the bag tightly and place it in a 35-gallon garbage can filled with water. Let the bag sit in the water for three weeks.

Remove the bag from the water and let it drain into the can. Throw away the manure or spread it in another part of your garden.

Dilute the chicken manure tea with four parts of water to one part of manure. The tea must be diluted or it will burn the grass.

Place a large stone into the bag to make it sink.

Pour the diluted manure mixture into a garden sprayer. Soak all the blades of grass in the lawn with the tea, then water the lawn. Do not leave the manure tea sitting on the grass without watering it in.

Apply chicken manure tea to the lawn every three weeks during the spring months, or whenever you water. Do not fertilize the lawn in the summer, as you might encourage weeds to grow. Fall fertilizing prevents the lawn from going into its dormant period.

Make Chicken Manure Tea Fertilizer

Fill a burlap bag, free of holes, rips or tears, three-quarters full with composted chicken manure. Substitute a grain sack for a burlap bag as long as it is in good condition. Do not use fresh chicken manure as it could carry pathogens. Place a brick on top of the manure inside the bag and close the bag with a piece of rope or garden twine. The bag must be fully submerged. Stir the mixture at least once or twice a day. Remove the bag of manure, allowing as much liquid tea to drip into the can as possible. Use as a foliar spray on plants.