Horses at home, how do you dispose of manure?

Ours used to be taken away by a farmer but a combination of wet winters / fields too wet to spread and the new regs mean he isn’t taking it any more.
I have a 3 year old heap which I have grown potatoes on! and used some on garden / spread on field and will do same in future rotating 3 heaps.
The bagging it up for gardeners is a nice idea but too much work in practice for me .
 
We use some on our garden and then we have friends and neighbours who come and collect it for their gardens too. We have one friend who has a huge garden and she takes tons!
 
Growing squash plants in a pile of last years.

The rest is being allowed to rot down and then its going back on the resting fields as soon as I think there is reliable rain forecasted. My fields are massively over grazed and in need of TLC. I had the first pile taken away by the farmer because horses I'd inherited were riddled with worms (although latest heap has hit 70 degrees which should kill most stuff). When the farmer was shovelling it into his muck trailer the gardener in me got very twitchy because the base of the heap was gorgeous black well rotted stuff just like top soil.

2 heaps. One down at the yard on the designated spot which is used during winter and is now down to 25 degrees (compost thermometer in it). The other is at the furthest end of the fields where the poo picking from the summer track is going and that is steaming.

Its very valuable fertilizer at the moment. Our local allotments were moaning they couldn't get their usual deliveries of well rotted muck because the farmer has none to spare. Local horse owners have pointed them in the direction of their heaps with a 'bring your own bag' instruction
 
I used to let mine rot down in a heap, and then bag it and sell for 50p. If anyone wanted to come and collect their own from the heap, please do, it's free.
 
In the past place we rented privately the local farmer who supplied our hay charged us £200 to get rid of it (would be a full years worth so not too bad) been at the new place after other was sold for 2 1/2 years and it's pretty full and it's not been touched. It does keep shrinking down as mostly poo and wood pellets but there's not much room for this winter ?
 
People seem to have a lot of success with gardeners taking it! We advertised it years ago and just got the odd person wanting a bag or two. I wondered about leaving a couple of bags by the road but had visions of the parish council complaining! - and would need wheelbarrowing down the track to the road. Easier to have people come and get it themselves but I’m not that keen on having strangers poking around.
 
We pile it up and once a year after the hay has been taken it gets spread onto that field. Two or three weeks later it is harrowed to break up any lumps. The sheep get to graze that field until it is shut up for hay again. The muck heap is poo picking, 3/4 equines, stable muck (cardboard) and sheep lambing pens and housing (shavings layer then straw).

The hay field is about 4 acres and sheep numbers small, I have 9 ewes going to the ram next month, six ewe lambs and two rams to over winter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top