Composting Horse Manure with Chickens

[INDovey]

I am so glad that I happened upon this thread. I'm just about to start raising free range chickens and was trying to learn more about how to do that on a self sustaining basis without having to invest in a lot of feed. The farm I just moved onto has a huge barn that housed horses for years without being cleaned and that was one of the things on my To Do List., since I planned to build the coop in the drive through part of the barn anyway,... I guess I can just let them have the manure too... THANKS.

Since the manure is standing about a foot across most of the barn, do I need to pile it for the chickens or do I just let them scratch and have at the floor as it is?

 

[yyz0yyz0]

they will tear into it either way so save yourself some labor and leave it as is.

One suggestion: if you have a way to limit the areas they chickens can get to you may be able to speed up the process of cleaning the barn. As an example lets say you have 1000sqft of manured floor and your chickens can process 100sqft a week. If you partition the floor so they can only get to one 100sqft section for a week then after that week you can clean up that section of the floor and move on to the next section vs letting them at the whole 1000sqft for 10weeks then having to clean the whole floor at once.

 

[INDovey]

Thanks, that was my plan... why do all that work if they have more FUN with it than I ever would. I was worried about what else might be in the manure, like rodent or raccoon droppings. My plan is to convert a stall into the coop, complete with a heated roost area, a run door to the outside run cage, a portable indoor run cage like was suggested. I was already going to make them a portable A-frame coop/run anyway, so I guess I could just use that and move it each day or two. I had also planned to have an additional extension run that I could add to the portable A-Frame so that I could expand the field range if needed when they are outside of the barn... and would allow me to leave the extension in the barn and the coop/run in the field if needed.

I've heard that if I give them probiotics that would greatly reduce that risk. I am really into organic and home remedies, so I know all about probiotics and food sources to give them to increase the safety against tainted meat and eggs.... Green tea leafs, plums, sauerkraut (I have a quick easy mason jar recipe that I'd be willing to make for them). Since I also plan to plant the chickens a feed garden, having all of this would not be a real problem and would really help me to achieve my goal of sustainable living for my family and my livestock.

Is there any other risks or tips regarding the use of horse manure as a food source for my chickens?

 

[swga]

I would caution that if it has built up too much ammonia (you said they hadn't cleaned it for YEARS?) that might be the source of some mold. Normally, horse manure is just fine for letting your chickens dig through, but if the urine has collected to a degree that it has moldered the manure or the soil, that would be a risk for lung irritation at least. Check and make sure the underlying areas aren't moldered. Too much ammonia is also a lung irritant, but if it has been a while since the horses were there, you probably don't have to worry about the actual ammonia, just the mold that might have grown from improper mucking out.
Fresh horse manure, or even old horse manure, that's fine for chickens to dig through. However, you may need to supplement, and you will definitely need to add calcium for them. Supply oyster shells and grit, and if they are not laying optimally, you need to supplement.
Fermented feed is a way to supply good bacteria to protect their guts, also yogurt.

 

[Tumbleweed33]

Great thread! So glad that people are not scared of their chicken poop! I have never thrown mine away as I agree that it is a valuable, free resource. I have made tea with my manure especially for my nitrogen loving corn plants. I plan to give them the tea three times during the growing season.

I also keep all of the litter from my brooder and put it in my composting worm bin. I usually keep the brooder filled with shredded paper so the worms love the paper and the poop any leftover gets put into the compost.

My chickens also love the horse manure . All chicken treats are distributed on top of the horse manure pile which encourages even more foraging amonst the manure.

My dogs also love the horse manure. This is a very good way for dogs to eat vegetation as it is already processed for them! Dogs being carnivorous creatures were not made to digest raw fruits and vegetables, in the wild they would get their veggies from the stomachs of animals killed for food. I swear by horse manure (as long as you have healthy horses and you know whats in the poop!)

 

[melina90]

What a great thread! Thankyou all for sharing your experiences on this.

I have horses too, and was thinking to do something like this. At the moment the horses are staying outside the stable (with a shed for shelter), and beause the chickens outgrew their coop I have 4 chickens in each horsestall as a temporary solution. I didnt bother to take out the horsemanure because it was frozen to the ground when I moved the chickens in, so I figured I'd just remove it all when it unfroze. Well guess what. For the last couple of weeks the weather has been nice and warm, staying above freezing level even during the nights, so I thought I'd see if I could clean out the stalls. But you know what! I ended up just raking through to fluff it up a bit and just leave it like that. It doesn't smell, it's nice and soft - moist but not too wet - and the chickens love scratching it! Some of it looks like finished soil already, just after a couple of months.

Our pile of shavings/hay/manure is located in a far end of the property, and the chickens didnt go there much last year. So I'm considering to basically shovel it into a wheelbarrow and spread it out in their run! What do you guys think? I'm also hoping to freerange horses and chickens in the same pasture (of ourse with separate shelters) this summer. Hope they can all get along!

A friend of mine told me he had issues with his chickens constantly roosting on the back of his horse. Haha. Kinda cute, but his horse is white - and well, chickens poop alot while roosting. Lol.

 

[cloudfarm]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new at this but it looks like the last post was almost a year ago so you've all had at least one year of experience right?
Can anyone tell me if I use 100sqft as suggested, how many chicken do I need for the manure to be processed in a week.
And are anyone familiar with hard or clay soil? I live in AZ so I was wondering if it would take longer here to use a chicken tractor in a given area.
Thank you all and I can't wait to learn more from this group!