Pigeon poo?

[Boomer89]

Ok so, my father breeds / races homing pigeons. We've been doing it since 97 and its a passion of his. These arn't your everyday street rat pigeons, these are "pure bred" birds. They are fed a strict special diet of grain, corn, barley, etc. We live by the woods, so for the last few years my dad has been throwing there poo in the same spot for idk 6 years now. It is CRAWLING with worms. If you scrape an inch down, you can find some really big juicy night crawlers (perfect for our pet turtles )

Could this be something I should consider adding to my soil mixture? The only thing is that the pile is mixed in with a lot of hay.. but if you dig into it a bit, it looks like all soil.

What do you guys think?

 

[Boomer89]

Oh and I also might add, these birds are vaccinated for all diseases if that makes a difference.

 

[h.h.]

Ideally the poo would come from unvaccinated birds so it doesn't have any antibiotics passed through.
Sounds like good stuff though. Signs of life
I'd dig down a ways to get the more composted stuff and use it to top dress. Use very, very little at first until you can judge it's strength. My guess is that it's mostly worm castings at this point. Avoid the fresh droppings as they may burn. Maybe you can get pops to start a second pile while you dig the first one.
I'd have that stuff under every bush and around every tree in my yard, making tea with the older composted material. Then I would send a big bag to whoever answered my post on ICMag.

 

[mad librettist]

Ideally the poo would come from unvaccinated birds so it doesn't have any antibiotics passed through.
Sounds like good stuff though. Signs of life
I'd dig down a ways to get the more composted stuff and use it to top dress. Use very, very little at first until you can judge it's strength. My guess is that it's mostly worm castings at this point. Avoid the fresh droppings as they may burn. Maybe you can get pops to start a second pile while you dig the first one.
I'd have that stuff under every bush and around every tree in my yard, making tea with the older composted material. Then I would send a big bag to whoever answered my post on ICMag.

vaccines are not antibiotics. they are usually a weakened form of the pathogen that teaches the body to develop its own antibodies without getting it very sick.

it's been shown that specific vaccine scares spread socially rather than geographically. so english speakers will have one kind of scare, while spanish speakers share a different scare, regardless of geographic proximity. this is a big clue telling you the scare is based on bullshit, not science.

go ahead and use vaccinated birds. also vaccinate yourself and family members.

 

[Boomer89]

Correct, the vaccines are a very low dose of say pox for example. It builds the birds immune to these contagious diseases. They are also treated for diseases like worms, etc.

Kind of like getting a flu shot, ya know how the shot itself contains a small amt of the virus?

And you really think that it would mostly be worm castings? Because I was gonna shell out the extra $$ to buy worm castings (I have never delt with castings before, have always used a simplified soil mixture)

I just am afraid that this will have a neg effect and burn my plants. They will also be fed general hydroponics via the lucas method so its not gonna be an organic grow.

And as for digging it to the bottom, I am not sure if that is possible. Its on a hill edge so it mainly falls down the edge of the hill (into our back woods). Ill see what I can do.

Any other advice will be helpful!

 

[Moppel]

isnt pigeon poo way too acid?

 

[h.h.]

Good point on the vaccines.
I was taking it as a somewhat generic layman's misused term. The two often go together, antibiotics and vaccines. Animals often being dosed at higher rates.
I really don't pay much attention to that anyway. It just may not be truly organic in some books, depending. Once broken down and full of worms, you know it's not dead. In this case it sounds like a little gold mine.

 

[Boomer89]

isnt pigeon poo way too acid?

I have heard of this before as well.. that is what I am afraid of!

Good point on the vaccines.
I was taking it as a somewhat generic layman's misused term. The two often go together, antibiotics and vaccines. Animals often being dosed at higher rates.
I really don't pay much attention to that anyway. It just may not be truly organic in some books, depending. Once broken down and full of worms, you know it's not dead. In this case it sounds like a little gold mine.

I like the way you think I like the thought of sitting on a gold mine!

 

[h.h.]

Not necessarily dig it down. You just don't want too much that hasn't been worked over and well composted. I imagine it's pretty rich otherwise.
If you have worms, you have castings. Maybe not a lot of diversity in them.

I'd maybe supplement them with other castings, in the meantime block the downhill side and add some compost and kitchen scrapes.
Is there vegetation around them? That would add diversity as well as give you an idea how strong they are. Maybe dump the Lucas or do a side by side?

 

[Chomba64]

I have raced homing pigeons for many years. I have used pigeon poop and it works very well. I have used it mixed into the soil and over wintered and I have used pigeon tea. All work well. Once it is seasoned it is not hot and works great. I have also used it for my garden and vegetables. Great resource for soil ammendments... Peace

 

[Boomer89]

Good to hear, good to hear!!

Do you still race Chomba? This year we did really well. We are in Jersey, placed 1st 2nd 3rd in the 150 combine. Our best year yet.

 

[h.h.]

Pigeon poop – foul or fantastic?
Although pigeon poo is seen as a major problem for property owners in the 21st Century, it was considered to be an invaluable resource in the 16th, 17th and 18th century in Europe. Pigeon poop was a highly prized fertiliser and considered to be far more potent than farmyard manure. So prized in fact that armed guards were stationed at the entrances to dovecotes (pigeon houses) to stop thieves stealing it! Not only this, but in England in the 16th century pigeon poop was the only known source of saltpetre, an essential ingredient of gunpowder and was considered a highly valued commodity as a result. In Iran, where eating pigeon flesh was forbidden, dovecotes were set up and used simply as a source of fertilizer for melon crops and in France and Italy it was used to fertilize vineyards and hemp crops.

http://www.deterapigeon.com/21-amazing-facts-about-pigeons.htm

 

[Boomer89]

WOWOWOW!!

Thank you SO MUCH H.H.!

That is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear!

+1 to you!!

 

[moses wellfleet]

If you scrape an inch down, you can find some really big juicy night crawlers (perfect for our pet turtles )

what does the turtle poop look like? might be another shaft in your gold mine!

 

[Bennyweed1]

Vaccines are a total crock of shit. Perhaps they started off with a good intent but all the mumbo dumbo "I care about you" BS went right out the window and was replaced with greed and money. McDonalds could probably make a vaccine out of Coca and claim it to "recess the obesity tendency'. They could include them with every happy meal too, and collectively we could reduce the worlds population. "Quantitative easing" as politicians put it. Then when its all said and done, we could make an iphone app. and sell it back to the people?! I need to be a political figure, id blend right in.


How many of you bought into the H1N1 hype and went out and got big Pharmas vaccine?

LOL sorry, I rambled!

 

[Boomer89]

Well, the birds are different. Its communal living, like if you lived with 30 other people, in close quarters, I am sure you would want everyone around you, including yourself, vaccinated with anything and everything contagious. The plague wasn't a myth my friend.


But I agree on the fact that media hypes up certain diseases making it seem like its the worst thing in the world and you are doomed to a gloomy dark death if you don't get your shot.

And turtle poop.. you know, I have never really seen turtle poop in my life? Ive had about 8 eastern box turtles for about 10 years now, and never seen them poo in my life.

 

[growfr]

an episode of house portrayed a cop that had a grow-op.
He was using straight pidgeon guano to feed his plants. He caught a rare disease that only Dr House could cure.
Obviously we are talking about healthy birds, not rats with wings.

 

[Boomer89]

Uh oh, don't scare me now!!

Yes these are healthy birds.. My father has paid up to $1000+ for some of them. (I think he is insane for paying that much, but hes way more into it than me)

 

[growfr]

I think the birds were given e-coli infested water. The shit was just festering in a bucket.

Remember we are talking about a TV show. People get sick from all kinds of stuff it's all drama.


I'm sure your goods are a hell of a lot cleaner than sea bird guano.

 

[supermanlives]

almost all bird poo is good fertilizer