A stables near me have a sign up for free horse manure.
Has anyone any advise or experience using this medium for bedding ?
How old should it be for it not generate any heat etc and how would you prepare it for use if it was fresh ?
Pete
Horse manure
RE: Horse manure
Hi Pete, horse manure is great if it is well aged and not from horses which have been recently treated for worms!!! If you can get aged horse exhaust that is or can be kept for three months then all should be well. My test to see if it is suitable for use (not just in the worm bin but garden as well) is to dig into the pile if the are already worms there then it will be fine to use.
Some people use nothing but aged horse manure in the worm bin, it has exactly the right carbon/nitrogen ratio (25-1 or 30-1) to meet a worms food and bedding needs.
Don't use fresh manure it will heat up in the bin and kill your worms. If you can get well aged manure then its a great feed to put in your bin if you have to leave your worms for a month or so.
You seem to be getting worm food from everywhere lol
Hope that helps
Willy
Some people use nothing but aged horse manure in the worm bin, it has exactly the right carbon/nitrogen ratio (25-1 or 30-1) to meet a worms food and bedding needs.
Don't use fresh manure it will heat up in the bin and kill your worms. If you can get well aged manure then its a great feed to put in your bin if you have to leave your worms for a month or so.
You seem to be getting worm food from everywhere lol
Hope that helps
Willy
RE: Horse manure
Thank you Willy. I doubt the stables have any aged manure. After your comments im considering using an old type dustbin to age it in as I have very little garden. it could sit in there for three months to expel all the nasties . yes I do have the lid.
Pete
Pete
RE: Horse manure
Thats what I would do. Be sure to put drainage holes in the bottom of the bin and some ventalation holes up around the top.
Have fun
Willy
Have fun
Willy
RE: Horse manure
Got some horse manure this week. The stables said it had been there ages. It was collected from the back of the pile to try and get the oldest.
The manure does not have an odour but has lots of small red worms about 20 mm long.
I've looked on the web and I believe them to be "strongyles" a horse intestinal worm.
My question is....is it all right to use this manure with the worms in it ? Will they die off or multiply in the bins.
Pete
The manure does not have an odour but has lots of small red worms about 20 mm long.
I've looked on the web and I believe them to be "strongyles" a horse intestinal worm.
My question is....is it all right to use this manure with the worms in it ? Will they die off or multiply in the bins.
Pete
RE: Horse manure
Sorry Pete I'm not sure. I thing any animal intestinal worms only live a few hours once they leave the hosts body.
Willy
Just looked on Google and I don't think they are "strongyles" they have a short time to go from egg to find another horse host before they die, and they new to be in a horse to reproduce.
Are all the worms the same size?
Manure pile is a favourite place for red wriggler (Eisenia fetida) to hang-out, another common name for them is a "manure worm" and is one of the main worms we use in our worm bin.
Hope that helps
Willy
Willy
Just looked on Google and I don't think they are "strongyles" they have a short time to go from egg to find another horse host before they die, and they new to be in a horse to reproduce.
Are all the worms the same size?
Manure pile is a favourite place for red wriggler (Eisenia fetida) to hang-out, another common name for them is a "manure worm" and is one of the main worms we use in our worm bin.
Hope that helps
Willy
Last edited by WillyWorm on Sat Jun 24, 2017 3:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
RE: Horse manure
Hi Willy. Sorry for delay had pc problems..still have so its tablet time. Yes the worms are mostly the same size except for young ones. There are no big ones the size of red wrigglers. So now I'm not sure what to do with the manure :-(((
RE: Horse manure
Hi Pete, sorry I'm not much help on this.
I think your best bet is to put the manure in a bin outside, as you had planned to do, and add some worms from your bin, leave it for two or three months if at the end of this period the worms are OK then it's good to use if not then don't put it near your worm bin. You could try a smaller sample in a 2lt ice cream box with holes in the lid, maybe two or three weeks in this would prove the point one way or other.
Hope that helps
Willy
I think your best bet is to put the manure in a bin outside, as you had planned to do, and add some worms from your bin, leave it for two or three months if at the end of this period the worms are OK then it's good to use if not then don't put it near your worm bin. You could try a smaller sample in a 2lt ice cream box with holes in the lid, maybe two or three weeks in this would prove the point one way or other.
Hope that helps
Willy
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WormyMcWormerson
- Junior Member
- Posts:34
- Joined:Thu Nov 05, 2015 3:21 pm
RE: Horse manure
Like Willy says, they will die off without a host, but they can also survive for up to 3 months under 'optimal conditions'. Was going to suggest that you could spread it out on a tarpaulin and let the birds have a crack at them, but apparently they are parasitic in birds too!
Although I can't be sure of the source, a few months after we brought horse manure into the garden we had hundreds of invasive, orange, earthworm-eating Australian flatworms appear.
I'd either give it a thorough hot composting, freeze it or bury it.
Although I can't be sure of the source, a few months after we brought horse manure into the garden we had hundreds of invasive, orange, earthworm-eating Australian flatworms appear.
I'd either give it a thorough hot composting, freeze it or bury it.