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Kami Brooks
Member
Username: Kami
Post Number: 13
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, Nov 2, 2002 - 1:46 pm: |   |
I'm taking over as barn manager for a property where there are 30 horses on 20 acres. The current maneur management approach is to clean out stalls and put it directly into a set of paddocks that are near the barn. The paddocks are on a slope and the maneur is being used to fill in where the slope is erroding just inside the fence line. This has been done for about 10 years and those paddocks now have no real vegitation to speak of.
For now I'm going to set up a staged process where the maneur is contained for a 3 week period before being spread onto the pasture. I'm wondering if I add a small amount of lime to the contained maneur if this will also help reduce the acidity or potentially hurt the horses when it is spread into the pasture.
Also, in the spring I want to set up an experiment using earth worms. Some research shows that they can consume 1/2 their body weight in a day and they produce something that is basically like a potting soil. Has anyone ever experimented with using earth worms?
Thanks |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 7230
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Sunday, Nov 3, 2002 - 9:13 am: | |
Kami, I assume you mean agricultural lime and not hydrated (caustic) lime. I doubt this would be of any health consequence. Your number one concern will be spreading parasites back on the pasture, so be extra careful everyone is well dewormed.
DrO |
Dr. Carol Artlett
Member
Username: Cartlett
Post Number: 197
Registered: 6-1999
| | Posted on Monday, Nov 4, 2002 - 4:31 pm: | |
I guess you mean that you want to compost the manure by using earth worms. This takes a bit of time, or rather months and requires the formation of a heap which increases the heat in the manure aid in it's breakdown. The breakdown is also facilitated by bacteria as well. The result is something similar to potting soil. |
Holly Wood
Member
Username: Hwood
Post Number: 1566
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 9:06 am: | |
Just want to resurrect this discussion for anyone who may have tried using red worms for manure composting or who would like to try it.
Years ago, I read an article about using red worms to compost and "clean" manure. Recently, I have re-investigated the practice and thought that some of you HA members might be interested in doing it on your home farms to improve your gardens or earn extra money with your horse manure.
Gardener's Supply in Burlington, Vermont, sells red wiggler worms, and in looking through their catalog, I was primed to start investigating the use of them for manure management.
I asked Gardener's Supply if they had any information on composting horse manure with worms(as the composting they cater to in their catalog is that of kitchen scraps and yard waste). I was sent this link from Colorado State University. Very interesting reading and quite "doable" if you have a small farm.
http://http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/livestk/01224.html |
Ann
Member
Username: Dres
Post Number: 982
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 9:46 am: | |
The link is not working.. could you tell us where to go again please..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painte them with spots.. |
Cheryl Kallenbach
Member
Username: Cheryl
Post Number: 194
Registered: 2-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 9:52 am: | |
Ann - there is an extra http in it - should be
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/livestk/01224.html
Hope that works - it changed lines here.
Since I clean up all the horse manure everyday I always end up with a huge pile that just sorta sits - no way to water is the main drawback - Will have to give this some thought because it would sure help - Just need to figure out how to get the water out to it.
Thanks for posting this Holly - I've always been interested in composting though never did it in any "organized" manner.
Cheryl |
Ann
Member
Username: Dres
Post Number: 983
Registered: 10-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 10:16 am: | |
We have been composting for a year now.. we have shavings in it as well, thus it takes longer to cook.. what i have found is that i with every new dumping from the stalls i spray down with water.. seems to work better then trying to wet the whole pile often.. Can you wet down the wheel barrel / tractor bucket before dumping..?
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots.. |
Cheryl Kallenbach
Member
Username: Cheryl
Post Number: 195
Registered: 2-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 11:25 am: | |
I've thought about that - would be better than no water at all - guess I need to stop being so lazy hun?
Cheryl |
Wanda Martinez
Member
Username: Sonoita
Post Number: 86
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 31, 2006 - 11:34 am: | |
I also put a pvc pipe through mine it helps it air and I think compost quicker. Also turning it more helps also. Mine gets pretty hot so not to close to the barn. I have worms in mine already without putting them there. I also use the parasites.
Happy Trails,
Wanda |
Kami Brooks
New Member
Username: Kamibroo
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 9:40 am: | |
I actually own my own farm now and am using windrow composting for the last two years. I picked a sloped area of ground that was in bad shape (compacted, long term overgrazed, clay). I didn't buy any worms, they found their way there and in the process broke up the ground for a good 3-6 inches under the compost rows. The compost breaks down very fast.
The one thing to keep in mind, that link says to role the compost before 145 degrees. I believe that in organic you need to allow it to reach 160 degrees and that is because you want to kill off the nasties. My compost goes onto the fields, so not a problem for me, but if you use on gardens then this might not be the safest option.
I personally roll mine when I get around to it and never water it. That's probably why the worms have worked the ground so deep below the rows from moving down from heat or seeking water on dry days.
Kami |
Wanda Martinez
Member
Username: Sonoita
Post Number: 87
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 9:55 am: | |
Kami,
How big are your rows? And how high?
Wanda |
Kami Brooks
New Member
Username: Kamibroo
Post Number: 4
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, Nov 2, 2006 - 12:25 am: | |
At the time they're stacked about 3' at the apex (waist high) and they usually go about 3' wide (I use wood shavings, so they spread out pretty even). By two weeks, they're usually about 2' high (I always think I didn't pile that area up enough), by two months less than a foot. I leave them 6 mos, when they are really only a small pile (maybe 6 inches" and look like little speed bumps in the field. The rows do try to grow pigweed (HATE IT, HATE IT), but I raise brush hog above pile height and top that off before it can go to seed.
I go the length(width) of the area that I'm trying to improve. If I start new row before old row has been scraped, I leave enough room between so I can get tractor w/front loader around to work old pile w/o running over the 'younger' pile. |
