Pigeon dung

In our family every child was given a job for which he was responsible of finishing. I, as the youngest, was responsible for the chicken coop and the pigeonry, and so it belonged to my job to clean the chicken coop and the pigeonry every Wednesday. My father explained to me that the dung of the chickens and pigeons should not be thrown onto the dung pile because it was too valuable: mother could use it well in the vegetable garden. I of course followed the order, but did not give a mind to it. For me then the dung was just dung. Some years later I occupied myself more with the dung for work reasons and then it became clear to me what “too valuable” meant.

Pigeon dung with the Egyptians and Persians

Already the ancient Egyptians knew the high value of the pigeon dung. When they planted vines they filled the plant hole with a mix of Nile mud and pigeon dung. With the watery fruits the pigeon dung is said to give a spicy taste and with the flower plants it makes the colors more intense. In that time the pigeon towers were true treasures because of the resulting pigeon dung. In the state´s pigeon towers lived some 5000 pigeons and in the oasis Faijum there were even up to 60000. It´s getting interesting when you start playing with these numbers: one pigeon eats 45g per day. Therefore 5000 pigeons eat 225kg per day and 82´125kg (82,125t) per year. This equals about 4 train wagons. 60´000 pigeons eat 2´700kg per day and 985´500kg (985,5t) per year and this equals about 49 train wagons. Now I ask myself, where did the pigeons find that huge amount of food? According to literature in the surroundings, but for me this is a mystery! Now back to the dung. One pigeon produces about 3kg dung per year: 12kg wet dung which equals to about 3kg dry dung. 5000 pigeons produce about 15´000kg (15t) dung per year and 60´000 pigeons about 180´000kg (180t). Because at that time the pigeon dung was very valuable, the big pigeon tower doors were often sealed after the cleaning, so that the dung robbers did not have it easy to get to the wanted goods. The pigeon houses were often built on the exterior of a village and so it was easier for dung thieves to steal the pigeon dung unnoticed. Pigeon dung was very highly regarded in all agricultural oriented cultures, because it simply got the gardeners and farmers greater earnings.

Why is the pigeon dung that valuable?

If you compare it to other shit it appears that it not only has a record in nitrogen amounts (1,76%) but also in phosphor amounts (1,78%), potassium, magnesium and chalk. The pigeon dung has in comparison to other dung the most organic substances (3,8%). Guano fertilizer is a tip from Bio-gardeners, but most gardeners do not know that the pigeon dung and the guano fertilizer are equal. Here some numbers to the composition of pigeon dung: the water-soluble parts consists of 935,0 mg/l Na, 831,8mg/l K, 507,3mg/l Ca2, 139,6mg/l Mg2, 2440,0mg/l Cl-, 1563,3mg/l HCO3-, 86,4mg/l SO42-, 263,5mg/l PO44-, 10,0mg/l NO3-, as well as 4,0% humic acids and 18,7% fulvic acids. Noticeable is the low concentration of nitrate. Pigeon dung reacts in a watery environment first neutral (pH 6,5) and then after 100h a little acid (pH 4,5).

Pigeon dung in the vegetable garden

The pigeon dung gets put on the vegetable field in a pre-composted state and should only be put flatly on the earth. That way the earth organisms can use it better than if it is deeper in the soil. With clay soil it rises the air household. You can make the pigeon dung even more valuable if you compost it together with chopped straw or leaves. Pigeon dung needs approximately one year until it is compost ripe. Never use fresh pigeon shit in the garden, because it is too acid (aggressive) and would burn the plants. My mother has often filled a jute bag with pigeon dung and hung it a few days in a barrel filled with water. With this water she watered the vegetables and flowers. My father always said, the flowers of mother were the most beautiful for a 100km around, and if he said that it probably had to be true. Pigeon dung used in the garden also hinders problems with salty soils.

Pigeon dung in the middle-age

In the middle-age they said for many things to have a special cure, including the pigeon dung. So you healed for example the “bedding addiction” (that´s what they called cheating in the middle-age) with a drink consisting of oil, vine and pigeon dung. It was known as a great cure to hinder the lusts of “addicts”. Cheers! Also for abortions the pigeon dung was used: the pregnant woman just had to inhale the smoke of burned pigeon dung and already the problem was solved. Pigeon dung was used to make sour beer better and little breads were made tastier in pigeon dung leach. It was also cherished by the tanner who used it to tan the leather. From time to time nitre was also won from pigeon shit. By the word nitre it is understood different nitrates that were also already named above. In the 17th century pigeon dung was used because of its nitrate content in the manufacture of gun powder. Here a cite: Zedler (1744) recommends the following therapy: “ a freshly killed pigeon put on a snake bite draws out the poison, and split alive on the back and lain on the head stills the madness in hot fevers”. If these practices had the wanted result is questionable. But as a plant fertilizer it is without doubt magnificent! In the 15th/ 16th century in the south of France a part of a loan was often paid with pigeon dung, and with marriage contracts the amount of pigeon dung played an important part.

Walter Stettler Binningen www.flugtippler.ch