MUCK HEAP IN GRAZING FIELD - IS THIS DANGEROUS?

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denisel

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If the muck trailer was regularly emptied onto the field where the horses are grazing - could this be dangerous? In my opinion it doesnt seem right. The horses can often be seen standing on the pile eating off there and although i'm sure there's no rubbish amongst it, there would be muck from when they had been wormed in the stable.

Its very difficult to know how to approach the owner - through fear of upsetting them. However it is now becoming a concern on the yard.
 
shouldn't be a problem as long as the pile is always in one place, and the field is big enough to accomodate both the horses and the muck heap.
 
Almost every yard i have been on this is the case usually tucked into a corner.Your been a bit OTT the field should be big enough so the horses can graze well away from it.Horses tend to not graze within a few feet of droppings anyway i think its 5ft.
 
My horses have a heap in their field.My horse will often go and lay down on it.I think it is his hot water bottle and keeps him warm.
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Almost every yard i have been on this is the case usually tucked into a corner.Your been a bit OTT the field should be big enough so the horses can graze well away from it.Horses tend to not graze within a few feet of droppings anyway i think its 5ft.

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These horses stand on it like they are king of the castle and spend a great deal of time eating it!! Good reason not to let your horse give you a kiss
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Seen this in a lot of places. Never heard of it being an issue so long as the horses can move away if they want to. Horses very unlikely to eat poo if there is grass/hay etc etc etc, and even if there wasn't, I've not known a horse eat poo. Check with your vet if you're really concerned.
 
Mine is in a corner of my field, but taped off. I wouldn't worry about it, they're probably just having a rummage around for any tasty morsels.
Flies are always going to buzz around near horses & their droppings anyway.
 
we have one field that has the muck heap emptied into it but its cornered off with electric fencing. however in the spring/summer the flies are horrible up there.
 
Not dangerous at all !

In the 'olden days' the midden used to be frequently spread on paddocks to provide a surface to work the horses on!

Worse case scenario is that one develops a habit of lying on the nice warm heap!!

If you horses are eating from it, probably means your yard is very wasteful with hay / haylage / straw and there are still tasty bits left!
 
Our muck heaps are always in the field. Infact, one of my mares goes to it to poo! Bless her. Cannot see any problems, although I wouldn't really be keen on them eating from it.
 
Went to a vet discussion about worms.

Someone asked about muck heaps in fields and the vet said that worm larvae could only 'crawl' a few centimetres so it would be best to fence off the poo pile in case a horse grazed close to it and picked up the larvae in the grass. Otherwise it was no problem at all.
 
Last yard was at used to do this and tbh it was a problem for me.It wasn't in a heap in corner piles were so big and random round field that you literally had to hunt for horse.Also YO used to put all his sh***y silage/haylage in muck heap.
When mentioned this YO said its funny horses won't eat it in stable but in field can't get enough .
Could be cos covering any grass with muck!!
 
All of my fields have last years muck in them; every field has a large muckpile which is resting over the winter; the muck will be spread on our hay fields this Spring as natural fertiliser. Perfectly normal farm practice, so I think you are maybe a townie perhaps if you have never seen this?
 
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