If you’ve got horses, you should have got manure. If you are a gardener who is interested in organic compost, you must go for horse manure. Being interested in manure might seem odd or distasteful to some people. However, gardeners know they need to take an interest in their horse’s manure, as the consistency and quantity are the indications of good growth of the plants.
Apart from the name horse manure, it is also called horse buns, road apples, horse pucky, horse chips, horse hooey, and horse apples.
Do you want to compost your horse manure? Are you interested to use horse manure in your home as organic fertilizer? But confused about how to do this?
No worries. We got your back. We have curated a complete blog on horse manure which will clear all your queries and doubts.
So let’s dive into the article below to find more about horse manure.
Contents of horse manure
On average, a 1,000-pound horse will pass 55 pounds of manure combining feces and urine each day. This adds up and makes up more than 10 tons of manure each year.
Of that 55 pounds of fresh manure excreted daily by an average horse, there is roughly 0.2 pounds of nitrogen, 0.05 pounds of phosphorus, and 0.12 pounds of potassium (K). These are just average nutrient content in horse manure, though, and depend on your horse’s activity levels and feed. Plus, bedding also can influence the nutrient level in the manure, as well.
So if you want to know the contents of horse manure, It is always a good idea to regularly test your manure so that you know what you are working with.
The horse manure contains grass and grain fibers, minerals, shed cells, fats, water, and sand or grit, depending on the hay or grass they are fed and the type of soil in which it was grown, and the paddock or pasture on which the horse is kept.
About 3/4 of the total weight of manure contains water. Apart from water and these above nutrients, horse manure also contains undigested grain and weed seed. This is why it should be composted before fertilizing your garden because these seeds could still germinate.
How to compost horse dung manure
Composting can be referred to as the procedure of managed, accelerated breakdown of organic materials by microbes i.e. bacteria, fungus, and molds. The goal of composting the horse dung manure is to provide these microbes with a good environment that encourages quick and efficient manure breakdown.
Composting horse dung manure is a very easy and simple process. You can compost horse manure by following the steps below.
Choose a good compost site
Compost horse dung manure begins with choosing a good compost site. Good compost must have the following characteristics
- Choose a convenient location
- Make sure the compost site won’t flood with water
- Make sure the location must meet the manure stockpile site requirements
The storage area can be an open space that doesn’t need walls. However, walls will help to contain the compost and allow airflow. You can also use various pallets, chicken wire, straw bales, and slatted boards for walls.
You can use different piles that aren’t turned if you want to allow airflow through perforated pipes. The allowed air can be passive or forced with blowers. If you are composting the manure in heavy amounts, you can apply design guidelines for larger manure storage sites for smaller compost bins as well.
Get compost ingredients
Composting horse manure needs these key elements.
- Carbon can be obtained from wood shavings, straw, sawdust, manure
- Nitrogen that can be obtained through the urine of horses, manure, fresh plant material (lawn clippings, freshly pulled weeds), ammonium sulfate
- Air: ⅔ of the pile volume of the horse manure should be air. You can also use large woodchips to fluff.
- Water: moisture like a wrung-out sponge is required. The manure should be wet but not dripping
While composting animal mortalities, always follow the best practices for composting these mortalities. Never try to compost a horse carcass within your manure pile.
Mix compost materials well
Mix the compost well. It will give the microbes access to the nutrients they require. Add water to the mixture during mixing until it reaches the moisture level of a wrung-out sponge. It is hard to add water in the pile outside the mixing process
Cook the compost well
After mixing, compost, you need to cook it well. Check the temperatures as required and remix the pile as needed.
The required temperature to heat the compost lies between 140 and 160 F and you need to hold that temperature for 3 weeks. You can use a temperature probe, that you can purchase from a store, to check the temperature. Turn the pile when temperatures exceed 160 F or when temperatures begin to decline.
A lower temperature usually refers to missing ingredients. It means these piles need more nitrogen or water. Remix the pile after adding the needed ingredients.
The composting process is about to complete when you notice it doesn’t heat after mixing and you can’t recognize the original ingredients.
You may not be able to get the desired temperatures during winter. If it occurs, then stockpile manure over winter and resume composting in the spring.
Let your compost cool
Curing of compost occurs in the last 1 to 2 months during which time the temperature will reduce to its ambient levels. The finished product or the produced compost will look like something between potting soil and large, dark brown wood chips depending on the material size. Manure having fine material composts more quickly.
Now your compost is ready to use.
Usages of horse manure
Whether composted or not, you may eventually move and use the manure. You can use manure onsite by spreading it as a fertilizer, for your garden, or plants, on an open area, pasture, or field.
You can also use manure off-site for fertilizing or composting by following the above steps. It is suggested to use caution when spreading manure on pastures grazed by horses. You should not spread manure on pastures if there are more than 1 horse per 2 acres. Spreading manure in high-stocked pastures could result in increased parasite exposure.
However, finished compost of horse manure can be used for several things. Some of them are given below
- Amending soil in a garden
- Tree mulching
- Potting soil
- Fertilizer for the yard, pasture, or hay fields
It is recommended not to spread more than ½ inch of compost at one time when spreading compost on a yard, pasture, or hay field.
Conclusion
Horse manure is highly rich in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms that make it an excellent natural fertilizer for plants, and gardens.
You can use the compost by digging the composted manure into the soil, you can use it as a mulch, or spread it on your lawn to enrich the soil.
Horse manure is highly rich in nitrogen so it’s especially beneficial for nitrogen-loving plants like leafy green vegetables, garlic, brussels sprouts, and rhubarb. Horse manure may not smell the greatest, but your garden will thank you for using horse manure to help it flourish.
After using horse manure in your garden, you will see a big difference in the growth and health of your plants after the addition of horse manure.
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