Topic: Pros and Cons for keeping a Poo compost heap to make well rotted manure?

[Jitterbug]

I wonder if anyone could help me - I have access to some good horse manure which I am thinking of heaping in a spare compost heap I have to form well rotted manure.  The only thing that worries me is whether or not it would attract too many flies - not to mention the smell?  Any ideas please guys

Regards

Jitterbug

[cornykev]

The smell will soon go and the only flies you will see will have gloves and wooly hats on.    ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[supersprout]

I'm gradually giving up the idea of compost heaps and trying sheet manuring and composting instead. It's experimental; dumping pony poo and raw compost where it's eventually going to be used is to avoid the labour of moving it from one place in the garden to another. Will see how it goes this season eh?

[Merry Tiller]

Any ideas please guys

Yes, here's an idea, bring it straight round to my allotment and dump it there, I won't mind the smell or the flies honest  :-* Pretty please  :'(

[Jitterbug]

Thanks for that guys!  I will have to watch out with those designer flies in their woolly hats and gloves though Cornykev - thanks for the tip!!  Sorry Merry Tiller you are a bit far away. Supersprout - I also used that method - did not know that it had a name - but I did it out of necessity as I was running out of time before leaving on holiday.  I was just a bit scared that I would burn everything with raw manure.  I put them a thick layer over the strawberry bed and am a bit afraid that I have burnt them - not one little bud peeking out yet!

I think that I might just try establishing one.  It may take a while though as I use my car which only takes 6 bags at a time  (might go quicker if I take down the back seat.  Not much muscle power as I will just have to toss it over the lottie wall straight into the poo barrel.

Jitterbug

[mikey]

We have a regular 'free' supply of Horse and Pony Poo. Through the Summer/Autumn it sits at the stables in poly bags. From late November we pick up about 10/15 bags per week and use as follows:

'older' darker Poo goes on to the 'posh' flower and shrub beds, straight from the bags, we give just a light tickle with the fork, NO digging in.

'newer' Poo goes into trenches on the veggie beds. We dig out trenches +/- 18 inches wide and one spade depth, line the bottom with Poo and leave open to the weather.
We save our 'green' kitchen waste and dump this on top of the Poo, and cover with a few inches of soil.

Around 30 days later we fill the trench with soil, slightly higher than the original bed level and leave nature to get on with it.

We raise almost all of our seedlings in an unheated Greenhouse, and the baby plants (after hardening) are then planted on the Beds.

We have used this idea for two seasons and had great success, Runner Beans, French Beans (short and climbers), climbing Peas and Sweet Peas just love it.

The subject of Veterinary drugs passing through the beasts and residue being left in the Poo .... I have no idea if there are any risks to humans (but have a friend whose husband is a large animal Vet, so will ask) however I understand that Cows, Sheep, Goats have more medication than your 'normal' Horse (i.e. not Racehorses or Thorough breds) .

Mikey

[OliveOil]

Horse poo will have horse wormer which could contain any of the following - ivermectin, moxidectin, praziquantel, Fenbendazole mebendazole. Pyrantel Embonate, Pyrantel Embonate.  I'm not sure how much would come out in the poo, but i would rather a bit of wormer than worms!

Wormers are used routinely on horses though there is nothing else other than annual Tetnus Booster and Flu, unless the horse suffers from some illness or other.

[Pigface51]

As a general rule of thumb the best types of poo to use are :

Pig, then Cow, then Horse

With regard to medication etc, the only treatments that may be present in poo are wormers as previously metioned. Most other pharmaceuticals will be injected/injested and metabolised within the blood stream and won't really be present in the poo

[OllieC]

Just like my father and grandfather before him, I use fresh manure in several ways. What's important is to plant things a foot or so away & let the roots decide how close they want to get.

I used raw manure in a bean trench last year (which the books will tell you is wrong) - I had the earliest & largest crops on our site. For all cucurbits we put it in rows about 2 feet apart & plant in the middle (again, excellent results).

When I get older stuff, I use it in the more conventional manner but I'm all about max reward for minimum effort.

[sawfish]

Pig, then Cow, then Horse

I'm pretty sure horse is best certainly better than cow, according to everything I've read on the subject?

[cornykev]

I'd go with horse every time, I get mine from the local stables and at least you know they are looked after and have a STABLE diet. Cows and pigs get fatted up with god knows what, thats just my opinion I'm shaw there are other opinions to come. ;D ;D ;D

[quizzical1]

Back in the fifties, when horses were still used on the street (certainly in my home town of Portsmouth), by rag and bone men etc., my grandparents used to rush out with a bucket and spade whenever any horse muck was spotted in the road. They used to take it home and put it straight into their water butt, then use the solution to water both the veg and flowers in the garden.
I seem to recall that they also always had said bucket and spade just in case,and a selection of hessian sacks, in the boot of the car whenever we went out into the country at the weekends. They use to collect fallen leaves from the local woods and put that into the compost heap. Don't know if that would be allowed nowadays?
I recall that their garden was always lush green, with some of the biggest rose bushes I have ever seen.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I remember rag and bone men, and a few others, coming round; there was a guy selling veg, who always had green tomatoes at the end of summer. When I was in Edinburgh in 1978, there was a brewery (I think it was) that still used horses.

[cambourne7]

we have communal compost area i lead a team last year to make compost bins and we made 2 special areas. One for horse manure (local farm drops off a couple of bags each week) and one v shaped one for wood chips which a tree surgon drops off a truck load every 2 weeks. So i dont need to make a special bed for holding manure but its mostly fresh so i plan on getting a pile october and top off the top of one of my existing beds with about 6 wheelbarrow loads which should be well rotted enough to dress my beds early spring.

On my bed i have a 2 bay compost bin which is mostly stuff off the plot i had planned on turning one 1/2 into a hot box but its fallen a little to much to make it viable. So plan b is to use the end part of my apple bed ( L shapped ) into a bed for my pumpkin challange this is something i am building at the moment and its about 4 ft high of which the bottom 2 ft is horse manure and straw topped with compost to make sure the pumpkin is well fed....

[caroline7758]

we have communal compost area i lead a team last year to make compost bins and we made 2 special areas. One for horse manure (local farm drops off a couple of bags each week) and one v shaped one for wood chips which a tree surgon drops off a truck load every 2 weeks.

Heaven! :'(

[bunjies]

with regards to the wormer in horse poo, i think all the wormers mentioned are also used on sheep, generally via a drench. i assume cattle would be the same. i dont think you will avoid it unless you get certified organic.
however if anyone would like some gm free/wormer free rabbit poo/straw. bring your barrow :P
(seriously come and get it, i have lots)

[woppa30]

This thread is drifting but here goes.
In terms of which is best I read that horse > cow > sheep. The problem with this is that horses don't completly digest their food allowing seeds to pass through. Cows have more than one stomach, chew the sudd etc and so there are less seeds in cow. Pig, I can't comment on. If its reasonably priced and decent quality I would use it all. Fresh, rotted whatever, get it on there, just don't burn the plants.
Woppa

[flytrapman]

My friend has stables & he drops off his horse manure on the car park at the lottie & I cover with sheets, he then bring his loading shovel & turns it over after a few months, it soon rots down with the heat generated & going off the amount of brandling worms any anti worm treatment is not affecting the heap.
I prefer cattle manure & it rots down quicker for me.
If you apply the law you require a licence from the environment agency if you store over 5 tons of manure, but as our pile is shared we are ok.