Questions on composting manure and straw (first time)

[svenlylethor]

Sure, the woody material does "suck up the Nitrogen", but where can it go but back into the pile?
Plus, the operation revolves around "too much animal manure". I would say he is "Nitrogen rich", and would benefit from materials that might counter the "stink".

I could be wrong, I though I was once........;-)

The whole thing about composting is you have to have a carbon to nitrogen ratio of about 30:1. Manure is generally 20:1 so you need to add carbon-rich materials like wood chips (300:1) or straw (80-125:1)

I was fretting a lot more about the ratios earlier and what to use but like many have said you don't want to overthink it. I'm planning on layering a combination of new and old manure with old straw, rotted hay and then throw in some wood chips for some extra spice. I'll mix that around over a few months and see what it gives me. The master plan is to get rid of these rotting bales and old manure make something useful out of it.

 

[drizler]

Ours is all horse crap bedding and hay. We dump it all winter long in a heap or two . Come Spring sometime we bucket it over by tractor and dump it in the hedge row as high as I can dump it. Let it sit in the weather and that's it. Sometimes you can look out and see the steam coming off of it. A year later give or take I either spread it in the garden with the rototiller and give the rest away to friends for theirs. As for stink we never even smell it but then again we never go out and stir the stuff either:talktothehand: