A gardener is a fastidious person. Either he is dissatisfied with the light sandy soil, or he curses the heavy clay, or he buys peat, or he does not want to plant gardens on former peat bogs. And even black soil will definitely have its drawbacks. And he will definitely remodel the land he inherited: improve it, build up the humus layer, feed and water it. In general, create for your favorite plants Better conditions so that the earth would be a feather bed for them.

You can improve the structure and quality of any soil with the help of coarse organic materials, which are added to the soil or simply spread over the surface in a 10-centimeter layer as mulch at least twice a year. Organic leavening agents (conditioners) include:

Well-rotted horse or cow manure with straw . Best suited for poor soils (rocky, sandy). It enriches with nutrients and helps retain moisture and nutrients at the roots of plants. There is an important rule: fresh manure cannot be applied; it must go through the composting stage in order to acquire a good structure and be freed from most weed seeds.

Garden compost. Like manure, it is better suited for enriching and improving the structure of poor soils.

Mushroom compost. It usually contains rotted horse manure, peat and lime. It is good to use where slightly acidic or neutral soils need to be given a slightly alkaline reaction, for example, in a greenhouse with cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants. Such compost can be purchased from the owners of champignon growing workshops.

Leaf humus. Excellent for conditioning, mulching and acidifying soils, for growing moisture-loving acidophiles. Leaves of park and forest trees are very suitable for composting in bags.

Peat. In fact, it does not contain useful substances, decomposes quickly and has an acidic reaction. Neutralized peat is expensive, but in principle, acidic peat can also be improved by coposting for a year together with dolomite flour. Best used for loosening heavy, clay soils.

Wood shavings and sawdust . Best suited for conditioning, mulching and acidifying soils, for growing moisture-loving acidophiles. You can only use fresh wood shavings that have not been subjected to any treatment. Sawdust composted together with dolomite flour has a neutral reaction and is suitable for adding to the soil for any plants. It should be borne in mind that fresh sawdust takes a lot of nitrogen from the soil, which is necessary for the decomposition process. Therefore, when using sawdust, it is necessary to apply nitrogen fertilizers.

Bird feathers. They are rich in phosphorus, so they are well suited for adding to the soil before winter, especially in beds where root crops will grow.

Shredded tree bark. Good for clay soils. Improves water permeability and makes the soil more structured and lighter. The bark is also often used as mulch due to its beautiful appearance and valuable qualities.

In areas where planting is planned, conditioners are added for digging during the season. Areas occupied by plants are enriched with a layer of mulch made from loosening organic materials with fertilizers at the very beginning and at the end of the season. The optimal mulch layer is 10 cm.

Much less commonly used to improve the soil structure are fire pits (flax production waste), sunflower husks, and coal slag.

You don't even have to be a farmer to have plenty of chicken feathers on hand. For example, a large number of them can be obtained by disposing of old feather pillows that have already served their useful life.

Composition The basis of the feather is keratin - a protein of vertebrate animals, responsible for the formation of hair, feathers, wool, and horny integument. In turn, the elemental composition of this substance consists of hydrocarbon (50-55%), oxygen (25-30%), nitrogen (15-18%), hydrogen (7-8%), sulfur (0.2 - 2%) . Silicon is present in feathers in the form of silica. In feather ash its share ranges from 40 to 70%.

Directions for use:

Like other organic matter, bird feathers can be placed in a compost heap, where they will gradually break down into useful microelements and enrich the overall composition. If possible, water them with Baikal M1 or another EO preparation.

Chicken feathers will be an excellent basis for organizing warm beds when filling the lower layers. They are overheated and processed with a bang!

When planting cucumbers, white cabbage, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and eggplants, add feather (or fluff) mixed with wood ash. The harvest will be great! (feathers can be moistened in water to prevent them from flying away).

Bring in chicken feathers when digging the soil in the spring. They will act as an effective nitrogen fertilizer. The laying rate is 80 g of feathers per 10 kg of soil. If you overdo it, be prepared for the smell of ammonia in the greenhouse and for the tomatoes and other vegetables to become fatty.

The feathers rot well (most of them). Usually by the end of the season they are almost impossible to find in the ground. At the same time, the structure, aeration and moisture retention of the soil are significantly improved (it becomes looser), and its composition is enriched. With the gradual decomposition of feathers, such important microelements as nitrogen compounds, sulfur, carbon, calcium, iron, manganese, etc. pass into the soil.

You can use any feathers from any birds. It is advisable to chop large feathers before use. Thus, you can, as they say, “kill two birds with one stone” - get rid of unnecessary organic waste and get an effective soil additive that stimulates the growth of vegetable plants. The greatest effect from feather feeding can be obtained on poor loamy and heavy clay soils. Summer residents from the northwestern and central regions of Russia have already managed to evaluate the effectiveness of this natural fertilizer. If you put feathers in the ground, be sure to spend the entire season Special attention watering. And not only in the area of ​​the planting holes, but also in the aisles. The effect will be great! The fruiting period and overall yield increase significantly (not only in the greenhouse, but also in the greenhouse). Decaying feathers lure to the area a large number of earthworms. Share your experience of using feathers and down from poultry as fertilizer in the comments to this note.

Every year, garden crops deplete the soil, sucking out elements useful for life. To prolong fertility for the next seasons, it is necessary to periodically fertilize the soil. Organic food is a safe fertilizer. Chicken feathers have proven to be an effective remedy.

This soil-feeding raw material is natural organic matter. Fluff as a fertilizer has a number of advantages:

• harmless to humans, plants, soil, and the environment;
• improves soil structure, saturates it with oxygen and moisture in optimal quantities, promotes looseness;
• nourishes the earth with all vital elements (potassium, iron, calcium, manganese);
• Suitable for use with any type of feather, except turkey;
• increases productivity and fruiting;
• effective when used in greenhouses and open ground;
• does not attract rodents;
• when adding tomatoes and peppers to seedlings, their stems and green parts become bright, juicy, and strong;
• acts as a bait for beneficial insects and worms loosening the soil.

Composition of chicken feather

Chicken is the most common type of poultry. Its feathers contain large amounts of keratin, which is a strong protein. Without dissolving in water, it performs a protective function. Included in the claws, hair, fluff, fur, and keratinized parts of the body of animals and birds. Keratin contains:

• carbon;
• nitrogen (15 to 18%);
• oxygen;
• hydrogen (7-8%);
• sulfur (0.2 to 2%);
• silicon (concentration in feather ash is 40-70%).

Half of all components are carbon, a quarter are oxygen.

How to make fertilizer from poultry feathers?

There is a way to burn feather raw materials. Ash is used for fertilizing both locally and when digging up the soil. You can add fluff to the compost by placing it in a common pile in layers, alternating with other waste. Gardeners use fur material without pre-treatment, placing a handful in holes, scattering it randomly around the site, or bringing it in for digging.

Fertilizer pillow feathers

Old pillows, blankets, feather beds, and down jackets can serve as a source of potassium for garden plantings. It is necessary to gut the fluff in calm, windless weather, place it between the beds and cover it with straw, hay, and dry grass. This material acts as a long-acting heat-insulating fertilizer. An old feather is also used in boxes with seedlings.

It was noticed that the difference in the height of plants with and without feather fertilizer is about 10 cm.

By placing feathers from pillows in the holes, the gardener will not see organic fertilizer in the fall when harvesting: it manages to rot during the season.

The dosage for adding down from pillows and other downy things is 100 g per 10 kg of land. Oversaturation threatens:

• 1) small harvest;
• 2) whitish veins in the fruit.

Along with the feathers, you can place all available organic matter (branches, ash, bone meal) into the holes. Tomatoes react actively to this fertilizer. After laying the fluff in the hole, there is no need to dig up the soil and mix it with fertilizer. The raw materials are left for 3 days to activate the fertilizer, then the seedlings are planted, watered abundantly, and additionally sprinkled with soil: this method guarantees high yields.

Feather processing technology

To prepare your own feeding from fluff and feathers, you need to put the raw materials in a barrel or large pan and fill it with water. Place a net on top and cover it with a weight. Place the container with fertilizer in the shade, where the sun's rays do not reach. Leave the composition for at least three months: during this time, the feathers will rot, turning into a mass with which you need to fertilize the beds and row spacing. The resulting substance acts not only as top dressing, but also as mulch. It can be added as an organic supplement to mineral supplements to improve results.

There is another method for preparing fertilizer from feathers:

1. Grind organic matter into small fragments.
2. Mix with depleted soil.
3. Leave to rot for at least one month.
4. Fertilize the soil with the resulting mass at a rate of 1:100.

Ways to use feather fertilizer

There are several highly effective methods of using feather feeding:

• Add to compost heap for further decomposition. To improve this process, you need to pour in “Baikal EM-1”. As a result, the feathers will decompose into important microelements and feed the composition.
• As a base for warm beds. Feathers should be added to the bottom layer. Relevant in late spring.

The method is practiced only in cold weather, as there is a possibility of overheating and burning of garden plants.

• After mixing with ash and moistening with water, the raw material is used when planting zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. Consumption – a handful per 1 hole. Next, the product is sprinkled with soil and seedlings or seeds are planted. When planting, you need to take into account that the soil layer must be of such a height that the root system of an adult plant can reach the fluff. Organic matter will gradually decompose, providing the crop with nutrients until the end of the growing season. Required condition is thorough, regular watering of the entire area, including the soil between the rows.
• In the form of nitrogen replenishment while digging the soil. The recommended dose is 80 g of feathers per 10 kg of soil. Oversaturation threatens the presence of an ammonia smell and abundant growth of the green part, which will affect the quantity and quality of the fruit.
• Contains mulch. To do this, you need to scatter the feathers on the ground and cover them with straw so that they do not scatter throughout the garden.

Rotting is slow but effective and has a long-lasting effect. Large feathers are crushed before application to speed up the process. Excellent results are noticeable on clay plot of land. In the greenhouse and in the open ground, the method of using feathers is the same.

If you do not forget to replenish the nutrient reserves of the soil, the yield will be consistently high every season. Organic chicken feather fertilizer works great for this.

You don't even have to be a farmer to have plenty of chicken feathers on hand. For example, a large number of them can be obtained by disposing of old feather pillows that have already served their useful life.

Compound

The basis of the feather is keratin - a protein of vertebrate animals, responsible for the formation of hair, feathers, wool, and horny integument. In turn, the elemental composition of this substance consists of hydrocarbon (50-55%), oxygen (25-30%), nitrogen (15-18%), hydrogen (7-8%), sulfur (0.2 - 2%) . Silicon is present in feathers in the form of silica. In feather ash its share ranges from 40 to 70%.

Directions for use:

1. Like other organic matter, bird feathers can be placed in a compost heap, where they will gradually break down into useful microelements and enrich the overall composition. If possible, water them with Baikal M1 or another EO preparation.
2. Chicken feathers will be an excellent basis for organizing warm beds when filling the lower layers. They are overheated and processed with a bang!
3. When planting cucumbers, white cabbage, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and eggplants, add feather (or fluff) mixed with wood ash to each planting hole. The harvest will be great! (feathers can be moistened in water to prevent them from flying away).
4. Bring in chicken feathers when digging the soil in the spring. They will act as an effective nitrogen fertilizer. The laying rate is 80 g of feathers per 10 kg of soil. If you overdo it, be prepared for the smell of ammonia in the greenhouse and for the tomatoes and other vegetables to become fatty.

The feathers rot well (most of them). Usually by the end of the season they are almost impossible to find in the ground. At the same time, the structure, aeration and moisture retention of the soil are significantly improved (it becomes looser), and its composition is enriched. With the gradual decomposition of feathers, such important microelements as nitrogen compounds, sulfur, carbon, calcium, iron, manganese, etc. pass into the soil.

You can use any feathers from any birds. It is advisable to chop large feathers before use. Thus, you can, as they say, “kill two birds with one stone” - get rid of unnecessary organic waste and get an effective soil additive that stimulates the growth of vegetable plants.

The greatest effect from feather feeding can be obtained on poor loamy and heavy clay soils. Summer residents from the northwestern and central regions of Russia have already managed to evaluate the effectiveness of this natural fertilizer.

If you put feathers in the ground, be sure to pay special attention to watering throughout the season. And not only in the area of ​​the planting holes, but also in the aisles. The effect will be great! The fruiting period and overall yield increase significantly (not only in the greenhouse, but also in the greenhouse). Decaying feathers attract large numbers of earthworms to the area.