"ozadam" wrote in message

G'day. Just reading the post. I always use Horse manure on my patch.
Horses in Aust. are wormed regularly, so we have to leave the manure
for three months to nullify the effects of chemicals etc.

I've read that comment often and I disagree with it. I think it's an old
wive's tale and it also isn't a view that I've been able to find has much
support in the scientific literature on vermicides.

The worms found in horses are an entirely different species to earthworms.

I collect my horsepoop from a farm which has 20+ horses and where the owner
has a regular worming program. The poops are cleared out of the stable or
paddock every day and always placed in 2 piles in 2 particular spots. These
spots have been in regular use for at least 15 years.

I've been collecting the poops from these spots for years now and there are
always worms there. Mostly the worms there are the ones I call Red
Wrigglers which are the real manure worms but sometimes the worms are just
the normal earthworms. I collect then up too as I'm not going to let a free
earthworm escape from going into my garden.

I also spread horse poop as it comes (often almost still steaming) straight
onto garden beds and it results in a huge worm population explosion.

The range of vermicides used in horses is huge but the ones most commonly
used round here (rural Aus.) are probably those that contain avermectin.
The following cites all say that toxicity to earthworms really isn't a
problem.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum

http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:8346641

http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:8346641