Manure?

[Ridgerunner]

http://www.manure.umn.edu/assets/WeedSeedSurvival.pdf

This is a study on weed seeds from manure. This one shows that horses do a better job of digesting particular seeds than cattle, but that could be the particular type of seeds thay are studying. I'm always skeptical when I read these studies. If you changed a variable like type of weed seeds, you might get different results.

The type of feed they eat can make a difference as to how many weed seeds pass through. When my neighbor gives me the cow manure, he just scoops up where he feeds out of doors. That stuff contains a lot of seeds fromn plants that cattle won't eat, like burdock, because those plants grow and go to seed outdoors. If the manure comes from inside a feedlot where no weeds or grass grows, that type of contamination is a lot less likely. If hay or such is used as bedding, those weed and grass seeds don't pass through the digestive system at all. So source of the manure can play a huge part.

Smiles, your results with horse as opposed to cow manure may have been because of contamination from other sources, not the manure itself? By the way, chickens do a really good job of getting rid of weed seeds in their manure, though as the article mentioned, that may depend on the type of weed seeds.

This article also talks about composting to get rid of the weed seeds. It is not as simple or effective as I thought, especially depending on which weed or grass seeds you are talking about, but it can really help.

 

[desertlady]

One way for nature to spread sees is for animals to eat them and only digest a few. They drop the weed and grass seeds wherever they wander. You can get a whole lot of weed and grass seeds with cow and horse manure. I'm not familiar with goat manure but I'd suspect they would be guilty too. Just look them in the face. Don't they look guilty?

My neighbor gives me two front-end-loader buckets full of partially rotted cow manure most years. It does have a whole lot of seeds but I still consider it gold.

If you want to reduce the weed and grass seeds, hot compost it.

Thats a good idea, I should do that ! Hot compost it... I know I feels sorry for the cute goats !!!

 

[ducks4you]

Don't give up on horse manure. MANY stables feed only pelleted feed and hay to show horses who don't graze on pasture, minimizing the weeds. I can tell you that the manure I clean up doesn't add any weed seeds that are different from what was already growing on my property when we moved our horses in. The last livestock on this property had left 9 years previously.
Try putting the horse manure on the BOTTOM of your compost pile. Horse owners routinely pile up their manure so that it will heat up to kill fly larvae and it also kills weed seeds, too. I would layer the horse manure with grass clippings (without grass seed) and let that heat up to kill all of the above.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Ridgerunner and Ducks4you - I think you are correct in the idea that horse manure may not contain any more viable seeds than any other manure. I'm pretty sure my problems with horse manure and weeds is of my own doings. Since I usually don't turn my compost and my piles are way back in the shady woods along the back of our property my piles probably do not get hot enough to kill the seeds.

 

[Jared77]

I use horse manure. I love it. I start at the edge and dig into the pile a bit and pull out pure rich black compost. I have not noticed any major weed issues but then again I also use straw mulch over the compost and I haven't had any issues. The pile does have some straw from the coop but its 99% horse manure and stall bedding.

Ducks is right, when the stalls are mucked,it just gets dumped into a mound so yes those piles get pretty hot. However as I said I start at the edge and within 2ft I'm already at rich black compost. And for me thats maybe 3 or 4 shovel fulls that I dig in and toss to the side and I'm at paydirt. I don't know if my success is because of the combination of hot composted horse manure and straw mulch or what but its been a winning formula for me.

 

[chris09]

Everybody can correct me if I'm wrong on this one, but I thought ruminants did not pass weed seeds. Since they regurgitate and rechew their forage, weed seeds don't survive. I also thought the rumen in their gut had something to do with that.

I agree with you.

I have Goats and some Cattle and there manure has way less weed seed than Horse manure. Now on the other hand Horse manure is "hotter" and has more nitrogen in it than say a ruminate animal because they don't digest there feed as well as a ruminate. [or even poultry as far as that goes]

Now with Cattle if there high grain diet they will pass excess grain they don't need. You can see this from time to time in milking cattle a fairs and shows that are feed a high corn or oat diet to keep there energy and milk production up.


Chris