Composted Horse Manure?

[AbominableDro-Man]

So I had a question come across me earlier today that I absolutely didn't know the answer to being that it was in regards to more of a dirt growing type thing. The question was in regards to how effective, if at all, composted horse manure would be in a soil grow?

 

Anyone ever tried this out of curiosity? I'm more or less just looking to tell them a yay or nay, but if specifics can be covered to put me on to speed as to why not (or why so) it'd be good/bad, that would be perfect.

 

 

[t-pain]

its good but i wouldnt use it indoors!

[AbominableDro-Man]

noted haha, though I suspect their setup will have more of an outdoorsy type to it. I'm not much of a soil type myself, I like clean-rooms too much. 

[budpuffer]

just as a note,,,horse manure has a lot of weed seeds in it so if its not composted correctly plan or doing a lot of weed pulling,,,bp

[trichcycler]

truly composted horse manure has no offensive smells. It will be finished, and completely broken down. Otherwise there will be 29 million little larvae and eggs awaiting a hatch, the manure will be way too hot to grow in, and it will stink badly when watered indoors. With a steady supply it would be hard not to have a secure little area of dirt being prepared for an outdoor experiment for me.  enjoy

[t-pain]

many horse barns/farms have composted horse manure on craigslist for free. check it out and score some beautiful compost dirt for free.

[AbominableDro-Man]

Oh no no, the person who asked has horses, that's why they asked haha. I'll pass along the info though in regards to that, apparently they've been composting it for about 3 years in case they ever wanted to use it.

[garyfisher]

3 year old composted horse manure will look, feel and smell exactly like DIRT.  There should not be a sign that it was manure, ever.

 

With that being said, I use it every summer in the vegetable garden.  It grows Monsters.

[pic book]

3 year old composted horse manure will look, feel and smell exactly like DIRT.  There should not be a sign that it was manure, ever.

 

With that being said, I use it every summer in the vegetable garden.  It grows Monsters.

ditto, 'overwintered horse manure' as it is called...3years overwintered it best--it is composted, and sweet smelling, and loamy to the touch--no odor or telltale 'clump' shapes left.  it's the bomb medium, and free to buy.  as medium in a greenhouse makes  4 lb plants easy.  no additives needed but water and plenty of water.

[AbominableDro-Man]

Noted, I'm sure that with all of the given information the person who asked will be overly delighted to learn that his untouched dookie will yet have a purpose haha.

[jointedone]

I am a horse person and can vouch for composted manure. Most horses are typically dewormed every 3 months. Grazing animals get worms.The composting is achieved by the fresh manure put into a manuner spreader,and it spread over the fields to grow hay and oats. The sun dries it out naturally,killing any parasites,and letting the ground absorb the nutrients. Fresh manure will kill plants. It is too acidic., My farmer friend has a degree in Ag from MSU. They grow their own hay and grain for the horses.

Edited April 9, 2014 by jointedone

[trichcycler]

I wonder how much of the deworming poison is excreted with the manure?  They sell that stuff indiscriminately at tractor supply I think.

[jointedone]

Yep,they do.mostly as Ivermectin,the same stuff you give your dogs for heartworms. There are other class wormers depending on what kind your dogs or horse or cow ,or goat,or sheep injested while grazing where other animals have grazed. Dogs eat horse poop.  Tractor Supply is for farmers and ranchers. They can't take their steers to the Vet so the supply stores and grain elevators and even catching the Vet at the farm is fine. There is no RX needed for wormers,your small animal Vet just wants to overcharge you, Also,Revolution,by Pfizer,can be given to already infected dogs with HW. The others can't and it is a very expensive treatment. The stuff kills worms. All you are doing is giving your dog enough to kill the worms but not the dog. Anything that kills is dangerous in inexperienced hands. Why give me the stink eye? I can't help it if you don't know about parasites........................   

[trichcycler]

well now, I didn't know it was the "stink eye", sorry. I thought it looked like a sad questioning. I know some of parasites, and the drugs used to kill them. That weren't the point at all really, since we don't use dog poop to fertilize our medicine. The dangers posed to the users of the pesticides, and to our pets is for another forum, but perhaps, not sure, the use of poop, from insecticide treated animals to fertilize our indoor gardens may not be a wise choice. I know there is much to do about organic farms using treated animal poop for fertilizer, and thought that might be even more important to the indoor gardener of medicinal cannabis, for the handling, concentrating, chemical sink, end use issues.

 

Note: I could be wrong. It may be perfectly safe to use insecticide treated animal poop for indoor medicinal gardening fertilizer. I really don't know yet. It just doesn't sound right to me, I'll pass on those meds.

 

no stink eye to you lady,

Yep,they do.mostly as Ivermectin,the same stuff you give your dogs for heartworms. There are other class wormers depending on what kind your dogs or horse or cow ,or goat,or sheep injested while grazing where other animals have grazed. Dogs eat horse poop.  Tractor Supply is for farmers and ranchers. They can't take their steers to the Vet so the supply stores and grain elevators and even catching the Vet at the farm is fine. There is no RX needed for wormers,your small animal Vet just wants to overcharge you, Also,Revolution,by Pfizer,can be given to already infected dogs with HW. The others can't and it is a very expensive treatment. The stuff kills worms. All you are doing is giving your dog enough to kill the worms but not the dog. Anything that kills is dangerous in inexperienced hands. Why give me the stink eye? I can't help it if you don't know about parasites........................   

[pic book]

its good but i wouldnt use it indoors!

joking, or just not acquainted with overwintered horse manure?  cuase it's got no smll, clumps or sliminess.  unless you know where it came from you'd not guess was ever manure.

[pic book]

brix level easily gets up to 12 using overwintered hm

[jointedone]

Just teasing you, grass.I call that guy "Stink Eye". NOBODY wants to know about parasites. Just so happens it is something I do know about. Even nematoads are parasites,and I put them in my gardens. Just want to warn you guys about horse poop mountains. They are usually NOT the best place for composted manure,because it just piles up and heats up. Better chance of nice clean manure is when they spread it. Of course there is always cow dung,if you can stand the smell. WHEW. When the farmers spread it on the fields you can smell it for miles. And yes,humans can contract certain parasites from animals,like hookworms and roundworms. They stay in the grass or even on cement,so clean up you dog poop,and make sure they are wormed on a regular basis. Gee I feel so smart knowing about POOP................ And I thought I didn't know SHEET.................J

[trichcycler]

a regular Scatologist !

[AbominableDro-Man]

I'll make sure to mention to them the dangers of their poop. I suspect though that they may know what they are doing with it being old farmer folk themselves and all, but one can never know!

 

Thanks for all of the useful information though, I'll certainly pass it along.

 

Edit: Oh! Should have the tent up tonight! Hopefully...if...I don't get distracted..But I'll certainly take pics and such once it's all set up. Minus shoving the undercurrent system in there, that I will probably do while the seeds are doing their thing..which reminds me to ask- though probably best done in a better topic- What is the best way to sprout my little ladies? I want to have it set up so that I can transfer them into 8 gallon RDWC systems, so I wasn't sure if I should put them in cups of dirt or stuff them in plugs in a terrarium. 

Edited April 10, 2014 by AbominableDro-Man

[trichcycler]

I soak them in clean water overnight, and carefully put them into a moist rockwool cube, in a covered mini dome/plastic cup cover etc. until you see roots coming out. Don't let it go dry, and make sure it gets a little light. when you see roots, transplant into the substrate of your choice, like hydroton and into your undercurrent system.

 

If they were going into soil I'd suggest placing the popped seed into a rapid rooter, then into a dirt cup/pot when roots appear.

 

don't forge the pixas

[Blkwlf]

Cow manure purchased at stores are from cows treated with the same worming meds as horses. Any true horse person doesn't over treat thier horses for parasites and it's done less often than dosages given to dogs. Horses are only treated 4 times per year. As for the manure, it runs a LOT hotter than cow so has to be cured longer. It's true it shouldn't have any smell and, if spread properly, creates a wonderful layer of very black soil with very short vegetation growing from it. ( Have horses myself ). The best way to use it, especially indoors but often outside as well) is in a "tea" formula" same many farmers use on their crops when spraying. Best way to prepare the "tea" is to grind up the dried manure ( generally with a paint mixer attached to a drill if doing small batches ) put approx. 1/2 cup ground manure per gallon water in a large bucket and allow to sit in the sun for 7-10 days stirring ocassionally. Doing this will help "clean" the tea as the sun is a natural disinfectant while helping the manure and water mix evenly. I've used cow, rabbit and horse in my gardens. Rabbit is by far the best choice as it has no need to cure just dry, you can literally plant right in it without nitro burning your plants. Using the tea mixture cuts down on the smell, any taste you may fear coming through and the water blend helps the plants to absorb it much more efficiently. My husband's been planting in one of my old paddocks for several years for just that reason with HUGE plants as a result. I'm currently considering making the tea for my own indoor plants since I haven't been impressed with the Fox nutrient output. My 1st indoor harvest only gave me an average of 1/2 ounce per plant ( VERY SAD ). What I did get turned out real nice but the yield is far too small. Some of this is due to the plants not being properly trimmed and topped prior to going into flower. I also need more and better lighting which I'll be putting in after our electrical is upgraded soon. I'm still going to begin using the tea for my plants in veg. knowing the results I get in the garden and those my husband's getting in his outdoor grow. Wish I still had rabbits though! :-) Tell your friend, good luck with using the horse manure.

[trichcycler]

I used my bunny poop for years. The stuff is gold, you are right. The issue is bringing outdoor poop into the indoors.

I collected it fresh daily and dried it indoors to avoid(mostly) outdoor pests that also feed on it. Outdoors is a special orchestra of radiation, temperature swings, predatory insects, wide varieties of fungus etc that helps keep issues at bay. I lack most of those environmental influences in my indoor room, so things can get out of control quickly. I saw this when I first began recycling my soil. Turns out steaming it in 55 gallon drum before use was the cure all, but I don't have energy for that anymore.....wish I did.

I still consider an indoor bunny poop factory, but 60 bucks for 50 pounds of organic cert composted chicken poop(botanicare) once in awhile seems easier these days and just as effective for me. I totally flopped attempting to use composted chicken poop from our own chix in the indoor garden, and wont do that again. Its gold on the outdoor fruits and veggies even fresh watered in.

 

keep me posted with the horse tea please