Horse manure?

[Agilityscots]

I have an opportunity to get some free composted horse manure. The question is, do I really need it? I have my chickens' litter in a compost pile, mixed with straw and lots of kitchen scraps...but it is mostly chicken litter. Would it help my garden to have a different variety of manure in my compost? (am I really asking questions about free poop? )

Amy

 

[patandchickens]

1) You can never have too much good compost. Truly.

OTOH,

2) Unless you are extremely darn sure it was composted really hot and turned frequently to get the outsides of the pile inside, horse manure is a major weed farm. Fine for pastures etc; okay for burying *deep* a non-tilled garden where the plant roots can find it but the seeds will never sprout; but a menace if used "normally". Unless, as others have pointed out elsewhere on this forum, it's all you can get; but that's not your issue here.

So, I think the answer is, it depends


Pat

 

[KeyLimePie]

I have a neighbor who brings me her horses' output neatly contained in black plastic garbage bags. Mister always fusses ("We don't need more poop!") but I too am of the opinion that you can never get enough good compost. I pile those bags in out-of-the-way places and let them cook until I need them. The longer they cook the better the compost.

The weed seeds can be an issue, especially from the lesser cooked bags. But where I live weeds sprout from everywhere, even slow-moving tourists! If I mulch with newspaper over the manure those seeds won't grow, and anyway, it's worth it to yank a few seed sprouts in order to get that richness the horse manure provides.

 

[Agilityscots]

Thanks, Pat and KeyLimePie (love that username, by the way). I think I'm going to take it, and if it doesn't look well-rotted, I'm just going to heap it into the compost pile. I also like the suggestion of mulching over it with newspaper to kill the weed seeds!

Amy

 

[Carri]

I have horses and I will always push horse manure on people! It's always worked great for my mom (who has a greener thumb than anyone I know) and I.
It really depends on what the horses are fed, though. Some people feed supplemental feeds, like grains or grasses, that will pass through into the manure. However, if they just feed alfalfa, you shouldn't have a problem with weeds. I haven't.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm with y'all! One can never have enough manure! I take all I can store or put on the garden and it makes the sweetest tomatoes in the world!!!

 

[pjkobulnicky]

I don't understand the problems people have with weeds seeds from manure. I have 6 major raised beds, each 4' X 16". and a raised bed along a fence of about 40'. I grow them intensively. I manure them in the winter. They sprout feed -based seeds in the spring. These weeds are sooooo easy to hand weed out. I have greater problems with naturally occurring dandelion and other noxious weeds. Give me feed seed any time. Small price to pay for good nutrients.

Paul

 

[Tutter]

pjkobulnicky, I think that all depends.

If you have a few beds, maybe weeding them out isn't such a chore. But when you have 175 rows (4' x 20'), new weeds are not good news; even if they are easy to remove.

Also, it depends greatly on the weed, and if it "gets away" from the beds. Is it inocuous, or is it hemlock, or star thistle? (The latter is viable for years in the soil. You must pick them young, and if you miss even one, it starts all over.)

I don't think there's a pat answer, since every bed, every garden, and every growing condition is different, as are the weeds.

As for me, I don't mind dandelions. You see, it's just a weed if we don't want it. :happy_flower

 

[patandchickens]

It depends what the horses are eating (which varies A LOT between parts of the country b/c of differences in horsekeeping styles, as well as varying from farm to farm). Out in California where the horses are pretty much just eating straight alfalfa, then yeah, your only seeds will come from unchewed grain and it's not a huge deal to remove the occasional oat or corn seedling.

However, if the horses are on good pasture, their tummies come home with all sorts of exciting seeds. And you're in the part of the world where grass hay is common, and they are pasture-ornaments who don't need really 'fancy' hay and are thus getting less expensive stuff that was cut when some of the hayfield was starting to run to seed...


Pat

 

[Reinbeau]

This is why I stick to cow manure (until I have my chickens) - they chew their cud and there are far fewer weed seeds than in horse manure.