• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • [Français]
  • Sign Up and Stay in Touch!
Canadian Food Focus

Canadian Food Focus

#loveCDNfood

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Courses
  • Contributors
  • Ask Us
  • In Your Kitchen
  • Recipes
  • Health
  • Canadian Food Stories
  • On The Farm
  • What’s in Season
  • Learn to Cook
cleaning chicken barn

What Do You Do With All The Chicken Poop?

Chickens are raised in large climate-controlled barns where they are free to roam, eat and drink freely. The barns are lined with fresh bedding (called “litter”) at the start of every flock cycle. The litter must be a natural, nontoxic material free of contaminants and be very absorbent to soak up moisture and keep the birds dry. Pine shavings are a common choice for many chicken farmers.

The average Canadian chicken farm receives 36,000 chicks at the start of each cycle and it takes 35 – 40 days to raise a batch of chickens for their meat. Once the chickens are shipped to the processor, the barns are cleaned out and the manure is collected in large compost piles. This happens 6 – 7 times per year, which means a lot of chicken poop!

The collected manure is a mix of the litter, feces, spilled feed and feathers. It is most commonly used as a natural fertilizer and spread on farmland to improve soil health and plant growth as it is high in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Some farmers also use it as a biomass fuel for their farms because it is highly combustible.

If you have a question about farming please submit it here: https://canadianfoodfocus.org/ask-us/

Canadian Food Focus

Written by one or more of our Canadian Food Focus staff!

Contributor PostsCanadian Food Focus

Sign Up and Stay in Touch

You can unsubscribe at any time by emailing info@canadianfoodfocus.org, or by using the UNSUBSCRIBE link provided in every email.
For more information, see our privacy policy here.

Canadian Food Focus
  • In Your Kitchen
  • Recipes
  • Health
  • Canadian Food Stories
  • On The Farm
  • What’s in Season
  • Learn to Cook
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Courses
  • Ask Us
  • Contributors
  • Partners
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy & Legal
  • [ Français ]
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership
Government of Canada

Copyright © 2025 · Canadian Food Focus Inc. · All Rights Reserved ·

Scroll Up
Sign up for our Newsletter!

 

You can unsubscribe at any time by emailing info@canadianfoodfocus.org, or by using the UNSUBSCRIBE link provided in every email. For more information, see our privacy policy here.