Composting Horse Manure?

Composting takes time, you can't just grow in the poo. You gotta let it break down, mixing in other organic waste and water and air. another option is to make a tea, soaking the poo in water and letting all the good leach into the water. Teas take less time, but I think compost is more effective

 

Mashiro, you're doing this at the perfect time of year.

You want to compost this - it needs to break down. Start collecting leaves; you shouldn't have any problem with that too! Mix as much of each as you can get into as big of a pile as you can make. It takes size for a compost heap to warm up, so get lots and lots! If its at all possible, you want this pile of leaves and horse manure to be around 3'''.

If its possible, layer some alfalfa and kelp meal too! You'll end up with some fantastic homemade compost, but remember - it needs to be composted or you can and will hurt your plants with fresh poo.

Wet the pile - keep it wet. Turn it with a pitchfork or shovel as often as you can.

Make your pile as big as possible! Small doesn't break down as well as a larger heap - it needs to be able to hold the warmth.

Leaves and poo!

J

 

^this. You will have an amazing compost come spring.

 

Composting is relatively easy...

If you do things just right you may not need anything but your compost, peat, and cinders (volcanic pumice).

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqWTYB_XLwE&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

Use your manure as green material and you're good to go. I add rock dusts, amendments, cinders, just about everything to my compost. When my compost is done its an all in one magical ingredient.

Good luck!

 

[quote name='"jerry111165"']
Wet the pile - keep it wet. Turn it with a pitchfork or shovel as often as you can.
[/quote]

I respectfully disagree.

Turn often early and then turn minimally later.

I turn once a week max in the beginning. And try to turn every three weeks or so after the first two turns. Minimizing the turns helps to increase fungal growth in your pile, and decrease damage to fungal hyphae.

Just my own two pennies. No offense.

 

Honestly, horse poop is the only poop that can be used fresh. It won't burn your plants. I've used it in my garden for years and love it. The only downside that makes the case for composting is it can (and usually does) contain weed & grass seeds, and they can be a pain in the ass. That makes the tea sound like a pretty good idea.

 

Mashiro

Do you have a worm bin? If so, then take some aged manure and re-hydrate it in a bucket along with a half-cup of kelp meal and toss it in your bin.

Always best to use aged or composted manure in a worm bin. Particularly if the bin is indoors.

If you don't have a worm bin ....

......get busy! lol

 

There's 2 main rules of thought on horse and cow manure. In a garden it can be used as an amendment in small amounts once it's dry and crumbly. For container use you will definitely need to compost. Also, if you break it down as small as possible prior to adding to the pile it helps tremendously. A garden hoe will work, but I like to allow the patties to dry and break it up really fine with my hands.

 

This is a false statement, using fresh horse manure in potting mixes without composting will burn your plants up. Very few manures should be used without composting, rabbit and goat can be used fresh, but most others need composting and any manure will be better if cycled through the compost.



PW

 

Note the difference between in the garden and in a container. Container gardening is a whole different world.

 

Well, FWIW, I've used fresh horse poop on my tomatoes for years. I amend the soil with it when I transplant. This year I have three plants taller than me (really tomatoes, not weed). But I have personally seen discarded pot seeds germinate and thrive in a spot behind the barn where the horses would congregate waiting to be fed. Those plants literally grew in fresh horse poop and loved it (until the electric fence went dead one night and the horses ate them).

poppybgood is probably right about it being different in a container, I don't know. And I've always thought cow manure had to be composted first, but I've never used cow (except the Moo-nure from Home Depot, which is pretty good stuff by the way, and dirt cheap...). And I have no idea about rabbit or goat. Although I do remember my ex raising big, fat fishing worms under his rabbit hutches (apparently worms love rabbit poop) that turned out some kickass black dirt.

Don't get me wrong, I love compost too. I kept a compost pile for years while I still had the farm. I used a big blue plastic drum with air holes drilled in it that we rolled around the yard. I'd throw in grass clippings, egg shells, leaves, etc. Made for some killer potting soil, but I always added the horse poop after it was finished.

 

And you will never run out of compost worms as long as you have the horse shit. Your newly constructed bin will be teeming with compost worms in no time. Keep it moist.

Also, here is a link to an excellent site to learn more on composting(and other things).

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/files/2012/09/EK_header

Best to you,

Sam

 

[quote name='"Mashiro"']I'm going to build a 4ft tall x 3ft diameter hardware cloth compost pile, much like the one displayed in the video posted by SeanDawg (thanks, man).

Definitely going to try to compost this stuff with leaves and add amendments like kelp and alflafa. We'll never run out of 3 good things at my place, horse manure, alfalfa pellets (we use it for horse feed) and leaves.[/quote]

If you feed the horses alfalfa its not necessary to add any more to your compost. Think of your manure as semi-processed, microbially (is that even a real word? Lol) super charged alfalfa. So you're good to go! Good luck with your compost. I know you wont be disappointed!

 

[quote name='"dirtydiva"']Honestly, horse poop is the only poop that can be used fresh. It won't burn your plants. I've used it in my garden for years and love it. The only downside that makes the case for composting is it can (and usually does) contain weed & grass seeds, and they can be a pain in the ass. That makes the tea sound like a pretty good idea.[/quote]

rabbit manure can be used fresh with no burn what so ever. I top dress with rabbit poo to conceal the perlite that floats to the top (guerilla grow). I also incorporate it into my soil.