Need ideas - compost / DIY related

[Kusanar]

Have you considered pallets? You can stand them up and have 2 or 3 sections, oldest to newest that are aging continuously until you're ready to use them.

I have, but I don't want to A) have to take the manure a long way in the winter so want something near the shed and B) don't want pallets where the horses can climb in and on them and hurt themselves.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I’m pretty sure that straight horse manure is NOT the ideal ratio for composting. Way too much N without enough C.

The good news is it sounds like you have some waste bedding and hay available, which are ideal additions to even the pile out.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I haven't actually tested myself, but, the internet ( .edu sites) states that it is ideal by it's self.

This Link
" 1) A carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio between 15:1 and 40:1. Horse manure itself has a C:N ratio of 30:1"

This Link
"The ideal C/N ratio for composting is generally considered to be around 30:1, or 30 parts carbon for each part nitrogen by weight."

I only have them in a run in shed with a dirt floor and minimal hay wasted due to small hole hay net. I COULD add some sawdust from my cat litter boxes, but that would be urine soaked so not sure what it's C:N ratio would be and what it would do to the general ratio.

Definitely a no on any cat litter added (sawdust or not) the ammonia is WAY to high.

Leaves, yard cuttings and spent garden plants are good to add though.

I have done the pallets as frames myself and found it effective and sturdy.

Any way to fence the horses out of the compost area?

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Agree with the “no” on dog/cat waste. Too much chance of pathogen contamination.

If the college kids are saying it’s the right ratio, it’s worth a try. Most manures are nitrogen heavy, but maybe horse manure is less so due to their feedstock and digestive system.

The good news is that a compost pile provides feedback - if it doesn’t break down at a reasonable rate, add nitrogen. If it gets slimy or really stinks, add carbon. Shredded cardboard and paper make good carbon additions in a pinch.

I’ve made compost rings from welded wire fence with good success. My primary pile is 14’ x 7’ and made of pallets. That setup is in the chicken run. I have a couple rings I use for stuff I avoid putting in the chicken pile (coffee/tea, onions, avocado, etc).

 

[21hens-incharge]

My bad....it is the bacteria and using near food crops.

https://www.thespruce.com/composting-cat-or-dog-waste-2539613

 

[Kusanar]

My bad....it is the bacteria and using near food crops.

https://www.thespruce.com/composting-cat-or-dog-waste-2539613

That is only for the feces, those aren't in the sawdust. I use pine pellets for litter, they use it, any pellets that get wet turn into sawdust and are removed, the feces are removed separately and at this point trashed. I don't see how cat waste would be any worse than human though and human is fine to use on food crops once composted.

There is actually a product called Milorganite which is (depending on who you ask) human sewage, or the bacteria that lives in human sewage. This is packaged as fertilizer and shipped all over the country for lawn and garden fertilizer. Article about it
Their actual website stating it is fine on gardens.

 

[21hens-incharge]

My understanding is that the listeria issues are mostly from leafy greens which are close to the ground, when they water or it rains the soil tends to splash up which will coat the plants in whatever they are growing in (soil, fertilizer, compost, etc) unless they are mulched. I seriously doubt that any of the big commercial growers mulch their fields of lettuce.

I'm not going to grow anything close to the ground in fresh manure of any sort, and really, there is nothing keeping the foxes, raccoons, barn cats, etc from pooping in my garden and putting fresh manure in there, but my entire property was once a dairy farm, there is a good chance that every inch of soil has been pooped on at some point and not properly composted...

I forget what the peaches were recalled for but it was a pathogen of some sort. I do recall I had bought about 10 of them, ate 2 raw and made pie.

Pretty sure dairy manure on the ground would have had enough ground contact and rain/snow over the years to have naturally decomposed enough to not pose a problem.

 

[Sequel]

Did it just melt? Worms steal it? Reminds me of a lady I worked with that had tulips in front of her house and she swore they were getting shorter every day... Finally she went out there and tugged on one, apparently chipmunks had tunneled under them and were eating them from the bottom up and pulling them into the ground!

It was stolen! I couldn’t believe my eyes!

 

[Kusanar]

It was stolen! I couldn’t believe my eyes!

By humans?? I'm impressed by the fact that a human stole what is essentially poop... lol

 

[Kusanar]

Oh, I was thinking landscape fabric like weedblock fabric! D'oh!

Sure, if the fabric is strong enough and you have a machine that can handle it, I think your idea of PVC pipes to hold it up would work fine! How about a strip of Velcro to hold it closed? That stuff is very strong.

Apparently the fabric comes in different thicknesses. Good idea on velcro, that should work and it is really strong when pulled across it's self rather than peeled so that should work well!

Pallets work well for holding in compost piles. Don’t need to rip them apart, just secure them together like a fence.

I don’t do this now, but as a kid we always put the horse manure on the garden in the fall then planted in the spring. It’s just high in nitrogen so it had time to break down. We didn’t actually compost it at all. Cow poop doesn’t even need to be composted and can be put directly on the garden and planted immediately.

Yeah, I just kinda want a way to contain the manure up where it is being produced rather than having to deal with moving it a decent distance in the winter when it is cold. I do enough work out in the cold hauling hay to the beasts so they can turn it into manure!

I have thought about pallets, I just don't really have a way to haul them at the moment and I don't want something like that in the field with the boys, I can just see them getting a leg through the boards and tearing themselves up. Landscape fabric bags would probably tear before the horse was hurt.