The stinky stuff

jray · Jan 6, 2003

Not sure where to post this so I'll try it here. Just for the record my wife says it smells like money

. Well got some seat time today cleaning out my wifes horse stalls and I'm statring to aquire a rather large pill of MONEY HA HA. My question is how do yall deal with your manure problem. I've been told that you can spread cow manure for fertilizer but that Horse manure is to hot or rich and can burn the vegitation. Just wondering what everyone with livestock does to deal with this problem. Thanks Jray

MossRoad · Jan 6, 2003

I always heard it was the other way around. You have to compost cow manure before you put it on the garden, but horse manure can be used right away. /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

RichZ · Jan 6, 2003

Get rid of it??? Horse manure is a great commodity!!! Horse manure is great for gardens, but it should be composted first. Horses' digestive systems are not as efficient as cows', so many seeds pass through their digestive tract intact. Horse manure should be thoroughly composted until it reaches a high enough temperature to kill seeds, or you'll get a garden full of everything horses like to eat./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I plow horse manure into my main garden, with a two bottom plow, and my wife and I created several raised bed gardens entirely with horse manure. Boy, did we get great yields!

I spread horse manure on my hay fields and pastures, too. I've even used it to fill pot holes in my dirt driveways!

We always find more uses for the stuff!!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

MDNick · Jan 6, 2003

Outstanding stuff for gardens. Especially Tomatoe plants. Makes the best, biggest, juiciest tomatoes. They don't taste a bit like the nutrient source. Not so good for pepper plants. They don't like that much nutrients apparently. We've never bothered much with composting the stuff. Of course, we also put down newspaper with the manure on top as mulch, along with the mixed in straw. Seems to work just fine. I get a pick up load from a friend of mine for my garden each year. Excellent organic fertilizer.

Justaplain · Jan 6, 2003

Do not spread it back on your your horse pasture, this just completes the worm[equine] cycle. Reguardless of what you use for a wormer. bcs

RichZ · Jan 7, 2003

Good point! I actually don't spead it on the horse pastures with the manure speader, but I do go over the clumps of the stuff that the horses leave with my landscape rake so they'll decompose faster. This year I hope to find disks at an auction to do that task more efficiently.

Justaplain · Jan 7, 2003

Try to find an old 'Spike tooth" harrow they work well without cutting the sod.

jray · Jan 12, 2003

Been out of pocket for awhile and just wanted to say thanks for all the posts. I am planning on making a riding arena for my wife this summer so maybe I can use it in there. We have also thought of starting a garden so I can use it there as well. Make some of that money back "LOL". Again thanks

Jray