I think I used Ringers once and have also used bagged poultry manure, but I mostly use coffee grounds. I like the coffee grounds because they're free and add more organic matter to the soil.

When are you planning on planting the KBG? It will do best if you plant it in the fall. If you plant in the spring, you can expect to see more of it die during the heat of the summer.

Be careful with the blood meal. It's a high N source that is fast release, so it can burn the grass. If you want a fast greenup that mimics chemicals, that or the guano will be your best bet. But you're probably better off looking at trying to get healthy soil for the long run and using things like coffee grounds or ground grains instead of the commercial fertilizers.

I am going to assume you live in Tinley Park, IL? If you can visit your GardenWeb profile and fill that in, we won't have to click away from here to figure that out. Along with that assumption I'm going to assume you currently have a fescue lawn because it is thin. Eventually seem to want a bluegrass lawn.

Just a couple of thoughts. You're spending too much time researching products. Most all the organic fertilizers are a collection of ground up grains including soy, corn, flax, milo, cottonseed, and alfalfa. One is as good as another. In fact if you just go to your closest feed store, you can find 50 pound bags of any of these materials for about 1/6 the cost of the commercially branded fertilizers.

You can do your experiment but it seems like a waste of time and money. The only thing I can guarantee you will learn is that bat guano stinks in a way you never imagined before. It is a subtle but insidious stink that grows on you and gets worse. You'll know soon enough. Don't be surprised if the blood meal part of your lawn dies. Blood meal is such a fast acting material that it can cause your lawn to die. It has to be diluted and sprayed as a soil drench, but I don't know what the safe application rate is.

What is your fertilizer application rate? If you have been using organic fertilizers and have not noticed your grass is much darker green than your neighbors' lawns, something isn't right. The application rate for every ground grain type of fertilizer is 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can usually double that amount without developing a sour smell, but those rates should give you a stunning dark green color after about 3 FULL weeks. I fertilize on the major federal holidays and my lawn stays pretty dark green all through the season.

Fertilizer will not thicken the turf as much as you might think. If you have a fescue lawn, it will not thicken this decade no matter how much of any kind of fertilizer you use. Bluegrass, on the other hand, will creep and crawl and should get pretty dense. Fertilizer may help but the sunlight is what it really wants.

Transitioning to an organic plan is simple. First you stop using chemical fertilizer, herbicide, fungicide, and insecticide. That completes the transition. It happens in one step. If you want to, and you do, you can go the extra mile and use organic fertilizer.

Unless you have had a chemical spill or a major flooding event, your soil has all the microbes it needs. The cost of compost is not worth it (and I realize I'm standing all alone when I poo poo compost). I believe all you have to do is feed the microbes and they will multiply without adding them manually. Feeding them is what the organic fertilizer does.

Are you caring for your turf properly?
1. Are you watering deep (an hour at a time) and infrequently (no more than weekly)? Letting the soil surface dry out completely between waterings will prevent the crabgrass and other weed seed from sprouting.

2. Are you mowing at the highest setting on your mower? A high setting will stop crabgrass seedlings from taking root if they accidentally do sprout. Crabgrass needs full sun and the tall grass will provide enough shade to keep it out. Tall grass will usually keep other weeds out, too.