How high is too high for a pile of chicken droppings

    (AP) – With the growing season still weeks away, chicken

waste that will be used as fertilizer is piling up in barns across the South and

causing worries about spontaneous combustion.

     A chicken litter pile this week triggered a wildfire that destroyed a mobile

home before being brought under control. Agriculture officials say the right mix

of moisture, texture and decomposition is needed to produce a burning pile of

waste, and that farmers should be mindful of how high they stack manure in their

barns.

     They recommend that waste piles not exceed 7 feet. At Charleston, Arkansas, on

Wednesday, a pile estimated at 8 or 9 feet high caught fire.

     No injuries were reported in the blaze.

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