What To Do With All That Animal Manure You're Collecting

Animal manures have been used as a soil amendment for centuries. They are a wonderful source of nitrogen and microorganisms which are necessary for the formation of compost. Manures can be composted by themselves, added to other ingredients in a compost bin, or they can be placed directly around the base of trees. If you have a pile of manure sitting outside of your animal storage area I would bet that the older manure at the base of your pile is probably already partially composted. Those wonderful little red worms that you see in the manure are called "red wigglers". Their waste or "castings" are the second most expensive form of organic fertilizer on the market. Many people are now starting to "vermicompost" using these worms to break down their food waste and then mixing the castings in with soil when planting.

I have obtained partially dried horse manure from a friend and have placed it in my compost bin and mixed it with water to make a manure only compost. It heats up rapidly and creates a wonderfully rich soil amendment. Frequent turning and the addition of dried straw or hay will eliminate any odors that may develop. Friends of mine collect this same manure and scatter it around the base of their fruit trees. If manure is partially dried it will not burn your trees when placed directly on the ground at their base.

Manure can be made into a nitrogen rich liquid fertilizer by filling a gunny sack with manure and placing this in a barrel of water for a few days (Backyard Composting, Harmonious Technologies, p. 57). This "manure tea" can be poured around the base of your plants or can be sprayed directly on their leaves to stimulate growth and plant health. This tea can also be added to a newly made compost pile to accelerate its decomposition.

Here is a recipe you can use if you would like to add your manure to a compost mixture.

Recipe (Backyard Composting, Harmonious Technologies, p. 35)

Layer these ingredients, water well, and turn the pile occasionally to create a humus rich compost. More frequent turning will accelerate decomposition. Your compost will be ready in 1 month if you turn your bin every week, 2 months if you turn it every other week, 3 - 4 months if you turn it every month, and 6 - 9 months if you turn it every other month.

NOTE: NEVER , EVER COMPOST THE FECES OF MEAT EATING ANIMALS SUCH AS CATS OR DOGS. THEY CONTAIN DANGEROUS PATHOGENS!!!