Horse Manure

Seems to be an underrated soil amendment / topdressing. You can usually get it for free from horse owners. Has about the same carbon to nitrogen ratio as compost.

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It’s good for composting, not for using “fresh”. You can toast the roots easy… Ever notice that fresh horse poop piles do not have anything growing on them?

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Yeah, it’s good stuff once it’s seasoned a while. I need to go and find some. Any horse owners always have it for you to remove.

I had a bull Elk hang out all night in my back yard last year and he pooped all over the yard. I collected it all and got about three gallons. The lid blew off sometime and I guess it filled with snow so now I have a five gallon bucket of elk poop soup! I’ll add it into my compost/soil mix.

It’s funny, I’m roaming the yard collecting animal poop these days, lol. It was the free roaming chickens that were around year before last, heh. You really have to be careful with that stuff, It’s very hot. But excellent stuff.

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Always make sure the horses that are producing the manure haven’t been eating food from pasture that was sprayed with an herbicide. I don’t know if it would affect MJ but I do know that it can wreak havoc on vegetable gardens.

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Yes, thank you. I almost forgot about that. Where I live now most everyone is pretty natural, but not all of them. I wanted to get some grass clippings from the city in the summer as I saw a full dump truck loaded with it. Then I got to thinking about herbicides especially if it is in the right of way. They spray those in many states. I’ve never seen it done here but I never asked about it.

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Horse, Cow, Chicken Poop…always use Poop that has been composted for AT LEAST THREE/3 years. I have access to several farms with “aged manure”, plus an Alpaca Farm (EXCELLENT stuff, 4 chambers on them, ready to use from the “chute”. Planning on several Dump Loads this Summer. SS/BW…mister :honeybee: :100: :pray: :heart_eyes: NOTE: FYI, you wanna see a person growing in Amended Cow Poop, consistently pulling SIX Plus LBS/6+ LBS??? Check out THC, “Greatlakes”, female grower in a class by herself!!! Midwest, Michigan or Minnesota, I think. Producing Medicine, all natural. Check it out, incorporating some of her techniques myself. Her Thread - “Growing Some Monsters (outdoor Scrog)”, Post #349 - Oct 4, 2019 (great read).

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I spread it all over my permaculture garden beds a couple of days ago, just a thin layer, about an inch or less. It’s only gonna cook in a large volume. Gonna use just a little as top dressing to my pots next. It’s the most natural thing to do, that’s what happens, animals poop onto the soil and it is left there.

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My main supply has been horse manure for years. I cant tell you how many loads have went on my garden and hauled to special places. Ive had great success with it. I also put it in my worm bin pretty fresh, they love it.
I like to dig a 1 1/2 -2 foot deep hole in the fall and put abround 6 inches in the botton then fill the dirt back on it which leaves me a little mound to plant on in the spring. The worms do a good job getting it ready for spring. I work the dirt in the spring but just a few inches deep and plant. I do use other supplements but when the roots reach the manure they explode

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Are you and @misterbee geting it delivered somehow? I’m not sure if I can find that deal or not. I do have access to a dump trailer. I need to make a call to my organic friends up in the hills. They’ll know of a source. I know they have a friend that offers it up but you load I think. I’d love to avoid that if possible.

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I have a place nearby where I can go and shovel it in big strong plastic bags and load them in my car. The smell is only faint and can always open the windows if it’s too much. They’re really big bags though, I could barely lift them in the car so now I use a smaller bag and transfer that into the bigger bags sitting in my car. It’s kinda therapeutic as I have the horses standing right next to me while I shovel. They’re such peaceful animals.

Also if you have a greenhouse, you can load up burlap bags and dump a bunch of them in the greenhouse, stack them in piles, they will heat up the greenhouse for free, so you can extend growing season, with enough manure you can probaly grow throughout winter, especially with double glazing. As it composts it reaches 60-70 degrees Celsius, put a pipe with holes in it in the middle of the pile(s) to vent out the hot air.

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I grew up around it and can’t hardly smell it…lol. I’m sure my truck smell like horse shit, or so I’ve been told

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I used to pay about $300 for TWO Dump Truck Loads (approx 5,000 Gals). Now I have free sources, just arrange a date, take a trailer, most farms have Tractors with a Bucket Attachment. Treat the farmers respectfully, they’ll be more than happy to accommodate you. I’m planning on stockpiling at least 2 truckloads a year, perpetual composting, I figure. SS/BW…mister :honeybee: :100: :pray: :heart_eyes: NOTE: If you see a farm with Cows, stop in, you might be surprised how receptive they might be.

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I never tried hpoo. I think it would work great though. Can’t imagine why not. I remember reading that horses only digest 25 percent of plant material which leaves seeds behind. Don’t know if that matters or not.
I have been using sheep manure/compost with composted straw in it because it’s what I can get.
I would grab about anything I could get my hands on. Manure/compost is a great choice for growing cannabis.
@Gman I would recommend using homeadviser.com for finding what you need. They will have people calling for delivery of what you want

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I have horses and have used their manure for years. As far as pesticides on horse feed. This is less and less common with today’s agricultural. Systematic sprays (the type of stuff that goes into the plant’s system) are not commonly used on alfalfa or hay.

The biggest concern is worming medication for the horse. This will leach out of the manure in around 3 months or so. If it has earthworms in the poop, it is usually good.

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Horse and Cattle have similar diets, but horse, more varied. Because Cattle is mostly grasses, not much seeds in their output. With horses, I’ve had tomatoes and watermelons growing in their piles, “volunteer”, if you will. Properly composted, BOTH are fine, IMO. SS/BW…mister :honeybee: :100: :pray: :heart_eyes:

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Same here, I used to use it int he garden but dam the weeds. I never could get enoughof it to heater up so started using worms to break it down into compost
This year I have two worm farms instead and will be starting a third.
I’m getting rabbit manure for my garden

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My “Horse pile”, I cover it with thick Black Plastic for a couple of months, kills the renegade seeds, speeds up composting also. SS/BW…mister :honeybee: :100: :pray: :heart_eyes:

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You can make compost out of it in 18 days if you have at least one cubic meter and add a little shredded paper or sawdust and fresh grass clippings or so. Cover it and let it rest for a day or 4, then flip it every two days, it speeds up the process.

It could work without adding anything and just flipping it every two days, keeping it moist, then it just takes longer, that’s all.

As for any weeds, they’re there to imporove your soil, just chop and drop before they go to seed, it’s all free mulch full of a wide variety of minerals.

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horsey poop for the win!!! Straight on, composted, up ur but, whatever you want. poop = yes.

invasive species eating horses poop, meh not so much. i like a nice clean poop. got enuff weeds, dont need to import a boatloadfull too.

I think horse poop gets a bad name from misinformation. Seems to me, all the pine shavings left in poorly sifted/cleaned horse stalls, causes more issues than the poop itself ever could.

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Yep I run a 1acre veggie farm and I make piles that can be used in about 3-4 months for direct planting. I mix it half and half with the native soil or use it as a top dressing but with the right mix of green brown and veggie/manure it breaks down pretty fast. The thing is I’m making about 40-60 yard piles and turning it with a tractor. Sometimes it smokes and can be quite the fire hazard so always be carefully and keep a eye in things.
I’m also lucky and all of are manure and compost material comes from the property, we have tons of livestock and don’t use any chemical of any kind. Strictly small scale organic producing healthy food for local markets.

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