Horses at home, how do you dispose of manure?

[RunRunReindeer]

Hi, a question for those who keep their horse/s at home or on other private land rather than on a yard - how do you manage and/or get ride of their dung?
Thanks

 

[sunleychops]

well I definitely have never thrown it in the hedge, or piled it up and burnt it. Nope, wouldnt do that

 

[ycbm]

I had it dumped on unused parts of my land. The last few years I had been tipping it onto the raised banks on two sides of the arena, which had shunk back over time anyway.

It's one of the biggest problems of having horses at home, imo.
.

 

[teacups]

It is the reason I use bedding which will rot down quickly so the manure heap is as small as possible - chopped rape & straw pellets underneath. Can’t use straw as that would create a ginormous heap.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Friendly farmer neighbour collects it once a year and spreads it over his own land. c£80 for 3 horses' worth.

They mostly live out, but I poo pick daily and they come in to their stables for an hour or two a day, they are on shavings.

 

[Cortez]

I have a muck heap and let it rot down, then sell it to gardeners, if there's any left after own gardening exploits. I've had 5 - 6 horses on average over the last 15 years.

Always use straw.

 

[SantaVera]

Get local gardeners to collect it

 

[TPO]

Have a wee tractor and trailer so used that as the muck heap and emptied it in a farmers field (with his permission!)

However for the past couple of years mum has gotten into that Dr Lisa's land management fb page/group. So a muckheap has been built in the field and the rotted down end is then (manually) spread on the winter pasture while it's being rested

 

[Archangel]

I have 3 muck heaps, all squared off with forked sides rather than piles. They tend to slump to half size that way. They go on the garden when they are ready. A couple have been made into veg beds - runner beans like them as they retain the moisture.

I have a small muck heap that has a pipe in it to the polytunnel in winter. With the price of energy I might think about using a muck heap to heat the house.

 

[MereChristmas]

Bagged straight from the stables and stacked near the front gate.
Local gardeners took it all winter to add to their compost heaps for the following year. Make sure they return the bags. I never used straw.

 

[Polos Mum]

I have 2 heaps and use one for a year then leave it for a year - and then spread it on the land - pay local farmer to do it. Does wonders for the soil.
I only use wood pellets and they mostly live out so it's not too much. When I had someone here using straw it was a nightmare as massive heap in weeks.

I have in the past paid someone to take it away - £40 a trailer got pretty pricey (Yorkshire)
In lovely Lincolnshire the farmers collected it for free because they knew the value of it as fertiliser for their land.

I also have an advert on preloved and local gardeners / allotment holders come and collect some - not enough to clear it tho.

 

[cariadbach10]

I don’t use bedding (open barn system) so it’s just pure manure. I store it undercover in dumpy bags (obvious pun!) and people come and shovel it into smaller bags for their garden. Or if they want to take a whole dumpy bag we charge a refundable £6 and they return the bag. Any hay sweepings from the floor also go in with our pigs who eat it or use for bedding.

 

[spacefaer]

Got a 8'x5' ifor Williams trailer which I fill every 3-4 days and take to a local farmer's field. We're on chopped rape straw so it rots down very quickly. I couldn't use a wood based bedding as the farmer wouldn't take it, and I can't use straw as it's too bulky - I'd fill a trailer a day.

 

[BSL2]

Dad used to load pick up and take to local garden centre. Or contact local farmer and pay to have taken away.

 

[Burnttoast]

I have bays (made with pallets) that take 3 months' worth each and I store it for a year, turning it once. Then it goes on the veg beds, back on the fields or round the fruit trees depending where it's needed. It's mostly manure, plus the skippings from the chook coops and any cardboard/feed sacks/veg patch waste etc.

 

[tda]

Well I have a quad bike and tipping trailer so all poo is collected from fields this way and we were putting it on next door farmers muck heap, however he has levelled that area out and sown a crop on it, I haven't seen him yet to ask if he has another location started.
But I have started my own muck pile as my land could do with something putting back on it - long term plan ??

 

[ponynutz]

Hire a trailer but atm it's at the bottom of the field and will be used as fertiliser

 

[millitiger]

My field muck, I have poo bays and we pile it up, let it rot down and then put back on resting fields and harrow in as fertiliser. By rotting it you kill worms etc and it breaks down quickly on the field.

Stable muck, I bought a tipping trailer and tarted it up a bit and our local friendly farmer takes it away for me once a month. We have 2 friendly farmers to choose from and they are happy to empty it for a pint or two behind the bar at the local pub.

 

[irishdraft]

Mine live out mainly so I have various poo piles on unused areas these just rot down as I have summer & winter fields. What little stable manure is either put on poo piles or burnt when we have a burn up which isn't often.

 

[GinaGeo]

Stored and rotted then spread back on the land.

 

[rextherobber]

Stored and rotted then spread back on the land.

This - it's fantastic for the soil and makes the grass more resilient

 

[Hallo2012]

stack and rot it, about 50% gets spread back on the land and the rest is collected by farmer for £30.

 

[VRIN]

I have a muck heap and then bag it for people to collect. Sometimes people bring a trailer and dig straight into the heap.

 

[dorsetladette]

I have 3 muck heaps and they get used in rotation. But I only put straw/bedding on one. They are in the corners of our 3 paddocks. They rot down naturally as we rotate fields.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Get local gardeners to collect it

Yep I've advertised on a local gardening page and we have our "regulars" now who come along and dig deep.

However, it just isn't enough to control the dang heap!! Best is if you can get something like a garden centre or other commercial concern to come and take it - but not always easy to source a set-up like this.

So we get blokey's who come occasionally and remove the lot of it with a huge sh!te-wagon thing. We are in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone so it is getting harder to find people who will take it nowadays.

Do be careful you are not ripped off for prices; we were quoted £600 unbelievably by someone once.

 

[Antw23uk]

I only have 3 acres so it was becoming a pain when stabled (and only so much the hedge line could take!) so i invested in a 6 ton tipping trailer, and added sides to it for extra height. A farmer takes it away every month or so for a small fee. I dont like muck heaps, they look a mess and sour the ground they are on and generally dont really work on my layout, plus i like having a big tipping trailer, lol!

 

[QuantockHills]

I pay the farmer who I buy my hay from to come and take it away once a year. I have 1 horse, 1 pony and 3 acres.. use miscanthus and wood pellets and he charges me £100...

 

[Goldenstar]

I used to stack it on a heap near the stables they move it into a field pile and leave it to rot down then every third year it was spread .
I now have it collected yearly and removed by the contractor .

 

[milliepops]

we have heap in one field, it gets trailered there from the other field. currently just rotting down but if I ever downsize horses enough to rest the ground for long enough then it'll get spread

 

[sport horse]

Farmer neighbour takes it when clamp full, adds it to cattle muck heap, spreads it on arable fields, growns crops and brings in new straw. And so the cycle continues!!! I have a lot. When we only had two or three horses we rotted it down, bought an 8 x 4 trailer to go behind car and we sold it to local gardeners delivered. aWe had a very good little trade - it covered the cost of bedding.