Manure Guide

Sure, you can use donkey manure, too. But do not put any kind of raw manure right on your garden beds or you risk disease. If you use raw manure, it must be tilled in 120 days prior to harvest of a crop that comes in contact with the soil (root crops) or 90 days prior to harvest if the product does not have direct contact with the soil (aboveground leaves or fruits).

Although we have heard of putting leaves in (plastic) bags in the fall to hasten decomposition, we are not familiar with the (any material) bag idea for manure. Leaves do not contain the acidic components that are found in animal manure so it is relatively simple.
It would seem as though hot manure alone might "eat" through the bag before too very long. Manure mixed with existing compost and put into a bag might be a little "weaker"...but other conditions are not known (your weather, the moisture level, and perhaps other things). Where did you get this idea? It might be worth your while to ask the source.
A final thought would be to compost your existing chicken manure the usual way (in an outdoor pile) this season and acquire manure for this growing season elsewhere. Then next year, you will have a ready and reliable batch.
Sorry we can not be of more help with this.

All fresh animal manure should be left to age, or mature, for about a year before using it. When fresh, it is often called "hot" because the various acidic ingredients in it will "burn" (kill) plants. Mixing fresh manure into a compost pile might knock one or two months off that time, but this is not an exact science; it depends on other things, such as the other ingredients in the pile, frequency of turning the pile, the pile's moisture, even weather (compost ingredients don't break down well when they are frozen).
Similarly, the matter of how much you use is less about the size of your garden bed and more about the quality of the soil. You need to check the soil's pH and, separately, the chicken manure's nitrogen. You can buy pH kits for a few dollars (max) at garden supply stores. You might want to consult the local cooperative extension about testing for nitrogen to see what other nutrients you need to balance it. Remember that different plants need different nutrients, so the fertilizer balance will depend on what you are going to grow.
That said...if you are a beginner gardener and all of this sounds complicated, you could take a chance and use good compost in your beds, sprinkle and mix in a small amount (a surface layer, worked in) of chicken manure that is at least one year old, and fertilize with a mixture that has low-to-minimum nitrogen.
Gardening is an experiment from year to year; no matter how carefully you calculate and measure, something could happen that is out of your control. (Think pests, disease, weather...) Take notes, plot your garden so that you can rotate your vegetables next year, and have fun!

Goat manure can be used for a variety of vegetables and flowers. Make sure it is aged and mixed with other nutrients, such as compost.

Thank you for your interest in the Old Farmer's Almanac and our Web site.

There is no exact formula. You need to know what you want to grow and know what pH is required. (The pH is a measure of the acidity of the soil.) Based on that, you might add lime or ground sulfur. You might add peat moss, to help retain moisture. You might add sand (not beach), to help water soak and drain through (not stagnate in) the soil. You might add compost, to help nourish and improve the structure and condition of the soil. The horse (and any other barnyard animal) manure should be aged at least a year.
The first question is, what are you going to plant?

Peas “fix” nitrogen in the soil; they do not need it. See http://www.almanac.com/plant/peas for more about this delicious vegetable.

chicken manure has to sit for 1 year

The conditions (temperature; ingredients, including “greens” and “browns”; size; moisture content; etc.) of everyone’s compost pile are even slightly different, so it is impossible to give an absolute answer to how long it takes any manure to be aged, or ready to use. Under optimal conditions, 45 to 60 days may be adequate for chicken poop, but even that is quite a spread of time in any growing season. However, it is a benchmark. You could try a portion after that period on a one plant or a small area of your garden and see how your plants react. And/or you could have two or three compost piles, with ingredients aging over different periods of time. And/or you could adjust your ingredients and observe the outcome on one or all of your piles. Perhaps the only sure thing to consider is that longer aging, in general, is better ... Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

I have use manure from cows,horses,sheep and also had weeds from the pasture they were pastured in know matter how old the manure was. If you can find someone that raises rabbit use that manure. Make sure to spread it on in the late fall or winter.

Hi, Tim, Usually animal manure should be aged for at least 6 months. Many gardeners and farmers spread fresh manure in the fall and turn it into the top 6 inches of soil a month before spring planting.
We recommend using newspaper pages as mulch to smother weeds and help keep moisture in the soil.

Goat manure ages pretty quickly if you increase the airflow. Dump it out of the garbage cans into piles. Keep in mind that the smaller the pile, the faster it will decompose. Goat manure is great for roses. Just don’t put it too close to the stem. Spread the manure so it lies about 6 inches from the base of the plant.