horse manure

[pumpy]

i will soon be storing the above for useage next year. do i leave it in plastic sacks to rot, or heap it up in the open? If i leave it in the open do i have to keep it moist? Any advice please?

[frozenthunderbolt]

I have been told most emphaticaly not to apply it fresh or put it in compost bins as horses are generaly given regular doses of worm medcine that kills garden worm as well as the parasites. not sure if the med is inactiveted by time, heat, water or decomposition though sorry.
My neibours layer horse poo with grass clipping ansd by all accounts make a fairly good compost out of it. - open stack

[pumpy]

thanks Jed.

[Millymollymandy]

For a start what you find in your compost bin are red worms which aren't the same as garden worms, and usually horse muck is writhing in these worms once it starts to rot. If you are worried about the worming issue I'd ask the horse owner when they last wormed their horse(s).

Horse poo dries out too much to be left out in the open and once it is dried up it is practically impossible to rewet - I am still finding bits of poo that are like pieces of coal in some of my flower beds.

Personally I wouldn't add grass clippings to horse poo as essentially that is what it is anyway, and it rots down better mixed with something woody, so a nice bit of straw in with it works well. Avoid horse poo that comes from a stable where sawdust is used as bedding as sawdust takes years and years to rot down. I know, I've made that mistake before.

But we all have our own experiences and ideas of what works best , and probably the best person to give advice is Peggy Sue, who both owns a horse and presumably worms it, and uses its muck on her veggies!

[Peggy Sue]

Back from holiday and ready to report on horse poo!

I make my compost heaps from 4 pallets and use LOADS of horse poo and whatever else needs to be disposed of. Grass clipping need to go in if you ahve a lawn but I'm told there is little nutirional benefit so don't offer to take other peoples and when you do add it mix it well or it stinks!

I try to make sure I don't take the poo straight after worming but having said that it doesn't actually kill compost worms, but I do wonder if the chemical content is used by the food plants so it's as well to avoid. It's easy enough, most people worm 3-6 times a year and a horse does a barrow of poo a day, I can get about 20 barrow loads in a 4 pallet heap which does for a years worth on the allotment and another one at home for my tiny garden with rubbish soil.

The one at home has grass clippings but they both make great compost in 2 years with occasional turning.

On top I put carpet or an old rubber mat to stop it drying.

Hope that helps

[pumpy]

Thanks Peggy Sue, i'll start shipping it in!!

[Millymollymandy]

Back from holiday and ready to report on horse poo!

I make my compost heaps from 4 pallets and use LOADS of horse poo and whatever else needs to be disposed of. Grass clipping need to go in if you ahve a lawn but I'm told there is little nutirional benefit so don't offer to take other peoples and when you do add it mix it well or it stinks!

I try to make sure I don't take the poo straight after worming but having said that it doesn't actually kill compost worms, but I do wonder if the chemical content is used by the food plants so it's as well to avoid. It's easy enough, most people worm 3-6 times a year and a horse does a barrow of poo a day, I can get about 20 barrow loads in a 4 pallet heap which does for a years worth on the allotment and another one at home for my tiny garden with rubbish soil.

The one at home has grass clippings but they both make great compost in 2 years with occasional turning.

On top I put carpet or an old rubber mat to stop it drying.

Hope that helps

With my rubbish maths I calculate you fill one of your pallet bins every 20 days, and it takes a couple of years to produce good compost - even taking into account the fact that compost/manure reduces vastly in size as it breaks down ..... just how many pallet bins do you have on the go at once Peggy Sue?

Oh and did you have a nice holiday and where did you go?

[Peggy Sue]

HAHA MMM- I only have 6 on the go, the rest just goes over the hedge or I try to give it away (surprising how hard that is). Whats more mine horse is not alone, so his 3 mates 'help'.... the field is right next to the allotments so the stuff by the gate is shipped and down the other end is for the crows

I went to mid Wales to ride (not my horse someone who has a well behaved fit horse) across from the English border over the Brecon Beacons & Plynlimon to gallop on the beach at the coast! Great fun, met loads of interesting people and....IT DIDN'T RAIN!!!!!!!!! !!!!
In fact I could have used sunscreen 2 days but had only bought waterproofs with me

I think I only missed out on a few sweetcorn and tomatoes, the rest seems to have looked after itself in my absence so a good time of year to go on hols.

[Green Aura]

You could also make a hot bed with it pumpy.

Dig out an area about 18" deep, put your new manure in it to about a foot deep and cover with 6" of soil. Then you can plant things like toms, peppers, aubergines and other things that like a bit of warmth in pots on top. They grow really well, your manure rots down and you can dig it up and spread it on your garden next year - a twofer!

[Millymollymandy]

HAHA MMM- I only have 6 on the go, the rest just goes over the hedge or I try to give it away (surprising how hard that is). Whats more mine horse is not alone, so his 3 mates 'help'.... the field is right next to the allotments so the stuff by the gate is shipped and down the other end is for the crows

I went to mid Wales to ride (not my horse someone who has a well behaved fit horse) across from the English border over the Brecon Beacons & Plynlimon to gallop on the beach at the coast! Great fun, met loads of interesting people and....IT DIDN'T RAIN!!!!!!!!! !!!!
In fact I could have used sunscreen 2 days but had only bought waterproofs with me

I think I only missed out on a few sweetcorn and tomatoes, the rest seems to have looked after itself in my absence so a good time of year to go on hols.

Sounds lovely - do you ride often enough that that many hours in the saddle didn't cause you any aches and pains? Bet you were still a bit bandy legged at the end of the day though!

[grahamhobbs]

I'm going to disagree with some comments, I use horse manure with sawdust rather than straw, partly because that's all I can find for nothing in London, and because it is pretty much weed free. So although it take a time to rot down it does make a nice mulch. I normally collect it late summer/autumn (when things quiten off) but leave it in polythene sacks in the sun over winter and spread it in spring. This gives it a bit of time to rot down and the sacks help in this. I don't dig it in.

[Green Aura]

I've read several times, but of course can't find it now, that you have to be careful with sawdust. I presume you need to be sure of your source and how the wood has been treated.

I mean what chemicals used, not whether it got taken out for dinner

[Peggy Sue]

Sawdust will rot but it's slow and I think there's a negative stage like straw when it takes rather than give nitrogen, so it's more a matter of time.

However, depending where the wood comes from it may be treated with formaldehyde- good slug repellant but not organic! You might also come across other bedding types in amongst it that could eb made from other stuff, recycled material/paper etc.

As for the saddlesore bits MMM we did about 5 hours a day for 6 days and actually appart form cramp in my hamstring which has been ongoing for months I was OK...then the day after I rode my friends horse for an hours and pulled a muscle in my groin
I don't think I ride many hours, not that many but I ahve a horse with an opinion so that seems to be what keeps the muscles responsive- and then whne you ride a co-operative horse it's just so easy! But I wouldn't swap him for the world...actually no-one would have him for a quid so there's no chance I need to proove that

[Flo]

Of course that the problems with chemicals in manure that affect vegetables we grow for food have not yet gone away aren't you?

Don't be too hasty in using the manure in case you have unintended side effects.

[grahamhobbs]

Extremely unlikely that timber for sawdust for bedding would be from 'treated' timber, joinery shops use untreated timber, treated timber is for carpentry on building sites. Also you would not use 'sawdust' from MDF (which used to have formaldehyde in it but doesn't anymore) because it produces a fine dust as against shavings.
Yes timber shavings would on their own take nitrogen out of the soil if added 'neat'. Therefore need to leave with the manure to rot down a bit first before putting on the soil.