Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

TIA

John

John Bachman wrote:

Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

depends a bit on how often the bedding is changed. If it's changed
frequently, it's high in carbon. If not, the nitrogen will be enough to
compost it on its own. Most horse owners change it frequently, so you
will have to add a nitrogen source to get it to compost quickly. If you
don't it will still compost, but it won't get hot enough to break down
quickly and kill weed seeds. Horses' digestion is much different than
cows'. Horses are basically shredders, and the form of the input is
visible in the output. Cows do more processing.

The same comment applies to "more leaves than anything". Cow manure has
a fair amount of nitrogen for composting. The lime probably doesn't add
anything useful. Compost tends toward neutral pH, even if you start with
oak leaves and pine needles.

If you want a hot pile, throw on some fertilizer.

If the sawdust bedding isn't completely broken down by the time you
spread it on your garden it will tie up available nitrogen while it
breaks down some more.

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

TIA



Are you hot composting? If you arent, the main difference between cow and
horse manures is the way each animal digests food (as the poster above me
has said). Why this may be a problem is because of weed seeds. People who
use it say the they have few problems with weeds and are easily able to pull
them if present. Ask the horse owner what the horses eat.

As far as sawdust, hot composting will solve that problem.

Fito

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 20:53:05 -0500, "Fito" opined:


Amazing. Even bigger than my pile. I didnt see any worms though. Will check
ths weekend. If only the stable owner wouldnt make it so hard to drive up to
the pile. As cold as it it is here in NYC I am thinking of dropping a few
worms in my pile to speed up the decompositoon rate. Thanks.

Fito


Worms help, but what breaks compost down are micro organisms, proper moisture to
support them, and a good ratio of nitrogenous material and carbon material
(leaves for example).

I used horse manure in my compost and it worked fine. You just may have
weeds growing up when you spread it if there is not enough heat to kill the
seeds that are in it. And of course you have to let it age enough so it
won't burn your plants.

Trish K.


"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

TIA

John

I used horse manure in my compost and it worked fine. You just may have
weeds growing up when you spread it if there is not enough heat to kill the
seeds that are in it. And of course you have to let it age enough so it
won't burn your plants.

Trish K.


"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

TIA

John

I don't know what horses in the US are feed, but we always recon that Horse
manure is cleaner than most manures as Horses tend not to eat seed heads,
and the hay fed to them is of better quality than that feed to Cattle so has
little or no weed seed in it. Also the straw used is also almost weed free,
and if they are bedded on shavings or saw dust then that is weed free.
Mushrooms are chiefly grown on Stable (horse) manure which is very rich in
straw, and the resulting compost is just about 100% weed free.
Could the weeds be because the soil fertility is improved from the manuring?

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

"David Hill" wrote in message
...
I don't know what horses in the US are feed, but we always recon that Horse
manure is cleaner than most manures as Horses tend not to eat seed heads,
and the hay fed to them is of better quality than that feed to Cattle so has
little or no weed seed in it. Also the straw used is also almost weed free,
and if they are bedded on shavings or saw dust then that is weed free.
Mushrooms are chiefly grown on Stable (horse) manure which is very rich in
straw, and the resulting compost is just about 100% weed free.
Could the weeds be because the soil fertility is improved from the manuring?

Not here in the SE USA. Horses are fed hay that contains a large variety of
seed, all the way from morning glory to wheat and rye, cockleburs and
sandspurs. Like I said, for me, it has to be well aged to the point it's
black and crumbles in the hand. In other words, it has to be fully composted
when I pick it up at the stable, and they have plenty!!

Tom J

"Fito" wrote in message
...

"Tom J" wrote in message
...

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

Just to add my 2 cents. I would only use horse stable cleanings if they
had
already gone through the heat and are black looking. If you start adding
fresh horse stable cleanings to your compost pile on your property, you'll
introduce more weeds than you ever care to have.

Following those rules, I've hauled many loads of "black gold" horse stable
cleanings and put on my garden, and they all had hundreds of earthworms
running all through them. That's when you know you have good horse stable
cleanings.

Tom J



Tom, can you please describe the area where you got your manure? I also
have an unlimited supply and havent seen any worms. I get mine from a
"mountain" that steams when I poke through it.

The stable where I get mine has a pile that is about a hundred feet long and
up to a twenty feet deep in places. I go around to the back side where nobody
else goes, and get the stuff that is 2 or 3 years old, or more. Beside the
worms, I never have to worry about live seeds.

Tom J

No. Horses, when out in the pasture do not distinguish seeds from grasses. All
grasses have seeds and horses indeed do eat them. They don't seek them out as a
bird will do, but all grasses and forbes have seeds.

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 22:52:26 -0000, "David Hill"
opined:

I don't know what horses in the US are feed, but we always recon that Horse
manure is cleaner than most manures as Horses tend not to eat seed heads,
and the hay fed to them is of better quality than that feed to Cattle so has
little or no weed seed in it. Also the straw used is also almost weed free,
and if they are bedded on shavings or saw dust then that is weed free.
Mushrooms are chiefly grown on Stable (horse) manure which is very rich in
straw, and the resulting compost is just about 100% weed free.
Could the weeds be because the soil fertility is improved from the manuring?

"David Hill" wrote in message ...
I don't know what horses in the US are feed, but we always recon that Horse
manure is cleaner than most manures as Horses tend not to eat seed heads,
and the hay fed to them is of better quality than that feed to Cattle so has
little or no weed seed in it. Also the straw used is also almost weed free,
and if they are bedded on shavings or saw dust then that is weed free.
Mushrooms are chiefly grown on Stable (horse) manure which is very rich in
straw, and the resulting compost is just about 100% weed free.
Could the weeds be because the soil fertility is improved from the manuring?

I am in Michigan and I have alomst the same experience with horse
manure that you have. Just the same I got semi-flamed a couple of
times because many others find it to be seed-rich. My HM has sawdust
bedding and the horses were certainly well treated, so that mayt have
helped too. It is not totally seed-free, but the weeding effort is
very modest. It is more difficult to weed my composted kitchen scraps,
what with all the little tomatoes and watermelons growing through it.

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

Just to add my 2 cents. I would only use horse stable cleanings if they had
already gone through the heat and are black looking. If you start adding
fresh horse stable cleanings to your compost pile on your property, you'll
introduce more weeds than you ever care to have.

Following those rules, I've hauled many loads of "black gold" horse stable
cleanings and put on my garden, and they all had hundreds of earthworms
running all through them. That's when you know you have good horse stable
cleanings.

Tom J

I would urge you to find out if the horses are being fed alfalfa hay, or coastal
bermuda hay. You want manure which has alfalfa digested. Bermuda most likely
has picloram, a rather persistent herbicide which will cause problems with
members of the nightshade family...as well as other families of plants.

The measure I've used over the years is 10% nitrogen to 90% carbon. It's enough
to heat the pile and cook the weed seeds, but with manure it is always best
(IMO) to turn it and allow the compost to cook about 5 times after turning to
get rid of weed seeds.

The upside of all the urine and manure in the bedding is that it activates
actinomycetes, a fungus which aids in the decomposition process and is very
desirable for most soil.

Victoria

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 12:51:01 -0500, John Bachman opined:

Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

TIA

John

"Tom J" wrote in message
...

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
Hi have a large collection of leaves in which I have mixed lime, cow
manure and green waste but I have more leaves than anything. I can
get all the horse manure I want, sawdust bedding. Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

Just to add my 2 cents. I would only use horse stable cleanings if they
had
already gone through the heat and are black looking. If you start adding
fresh horse stable cleanings to your compost pile on your property, you'll
introduce more weeds than you ever care to have.

Following those rules, I've hauled many loads of "black gold" horse stable
cleanings and put on my garden, and they all had hundreds of earthworms
running all through them. That's when you know you have good horse stable
cleanings.

Tom J



Tom, can you please describe the area where you got your manure? I also
have an unlimited supply and havent seen any worms. I get mine from a
"mountain" that steams when I poke through it.

Fito

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have
any experience with horse in compost?

Seems like it might take up quite a lot of room........and would probably
prefer a stable :-)

pam - gardengal