What do I do with the manure?

[Anne in TN]

We have an open barn with no stalls yet. Our new horse prefers to stay in there most of the time. We are buying a wheelbarrow tomorrow with the intentions of cleaning up all the manure she has deposited in there. We plan to dump it all in a pile beside the barn.

What I want to know is, how do I disposed of the pile? We have no tractor with which to spread it over the pasture.

Anne

 

[housemouse]

Anne, I do not know, but I sure know who to ask about this one.

My amish friend has a phone in his horse barn. I will call when I think he will be out there, and ask him what the best thing to do with it is.

If anyone will have good ideas, he will.

 

[Libertarian]

Slurry it and spread it on the fallow pasture.

Throw it at the fan to make your worst fears go away.

Rototil it into your raised bed gardens.

Mail it to politicians you are unhappy with.

 

[housemouse]

My Amish friend hasn't called me back yet. I wonder if they have horse-drawn manure spreaders?

My husband said just to let it sit and dry for about a year, and then use it for your garden...

As soon as I get the "scoop on the poop" will post it for you here.

 

[Anne in TN]

Thanks folks! I had an e-mail from a friend who also said to put it on our garden. Now if I can just figure out how to transport it all over there.

Anne

 

[Pogonip]

Here's a good article on some -unusual- uses for manure...

Your manure pile by Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #87
Address:http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/hooker87.html

 

[Tweakette]

Anne, I wouldn't put it on the garden until it's had time to sit for awhile. Fresh manure is so high in nitrogen it can burn the plants.

If you don't want to keep it for future use, you could put an ad in the paper saying "free manure, take it away". Sometimes gardeners and landscaping companies will come and take it away as they need it for their business.

Do you have a wheelbarrow? That will help with any manure transport.

Liberatian: "Throw it at the fan" That just about cost me a keyboard.

Tweak

 

[Flashyzipp]

Get it as far away from the barn as you can. It will attract millions of flies as I am sure you already are finding out. See if you can buy a used cheap tractor and spreader or cart and get it away from your property. Do you use sawdust in the barn for your horse? That helps it somewhat, but I would wheel it as far from your barn as possible.

Flashyzipp

 

[goatlady2]

I would suggest making a compost pile. Horse manure has lots of undigested seeds in it and the compost pile will "cook" them so they won't sprout in your garden beds. If you put straw bedding in the barn, then you have an excellent start for an outstanding compost pile. Just pile it up and let sit for a year, scoop up all that wonderful black gold into your wheelbarrow and dump in your garden area. Don't wast it in the fields. You may need to water the pile once in a while as it will not compost if really dry - it just clumps up into hard dry clumps which will not add much to the garden. I use wooden pallets to make a bin of sorts to keep the pile together so the chickens scratching in it don't spread it all around before it's ready.

 

[WitsEnd]

You are right Goatlady2. Keep it a little wet and let it "cook"to kill off the seeds. It also needs to be stirred periodically but eventually it will rot down and be the really good fertilizer.

WE

 

[Freeholdfarm]

If you want to retain the most nutrients for your garden, make the compost pile under cover, so rain won't wash all the good stuff out into the ground. You can keep the pile where it is if you can cover it daily with sawdust or something to keep the flies out of it. (Like the sawdust toilets.) Even if you don't need that manure for a garden this year, you'd be wise to hang onto it in case you need it next year -- just in case. And do keep the pile moist, but not soggy.

Kathleen

 

[Libertarian]

Since doomers need the compost for their gardens even more than we do now with Home Depot and garden centers all over, Can we use gray water to moisten the compost or will the soap and grease cause problems? How about urine?

 

[cleobc]

I feed my horses a little crimped oats every day. This encourages the birds (or chickens) to go through and spread the manure looking for the grain and it breaks the clumps down into sort of a fibrous powder. I live in a dry environment and the manure dries out so that it's fairly light weight and I just spread it with a wheelbarrow and a rake. To compost, I'd have to water it a lot. We have rather inorganic soil so I figure every little bit helps.