Benefits
The average 1000lb horse can produce over eight tons of manure in a year, which in addition to soiled bedding, can add up to a major problem! Making your own compost will save you money, not only on buying compost but also on paying to have your muck heap removed. If you make your compost properly, you should also be able to sell it to local gardeners.
Composting horse manure will also reduce the number of flies around the area, as the manure will reach a high internal temperature and flies will be unable to lay their eggs.
The Composting Process
If you are planning to turn manure into compost, the first thing to think about is how to build your muck heap. The ideal solution is to build purpose-made bins of rough wooden slats, roughly five feet on each side by four feet high. There should be plenty of space between the slats to allow air flow. Make sure that the bins are sited in an area where they are not likely to run off into a water source and cause pollution.
For the owner with one or two horses, two or three of these bins should be sufficient. You may also like to build a ramp to facilitate the emptying of your wheelbarrow, or alternatively construct a three sided bin and fill the fourth side with a removable pallet. The bins should be covered with a tarpaulin or similar in the winter to stop the compost getting too wet and slimy, although some rain should be allowed to get in in the summer months to keep the mixture moist.
The manure has to reach a high internal temperature in order to compost properly, and the moisture content of the pile is an important factor. If the pile is too wet, the internal temperature will be too low, and vice versa. Monitor the pile occasionally - it should be moist rather than soggy, and you should be able to see it steaming on cold mornings!
Once one of the bins is full, it will take about six months to rot down properly, and should no longer look like manure, instead having a black crumbly texture and an earthy, not unpleasant smell. Ideally, the piles should be turned with a fork to aerate them, but don’t worry if you don’t have time to do this. The manure will still rot down, it just may take a little longer.
If you aren’t able to build bins, then stacking the manure in piles will also work, but it is difficult to keep the piles deep enough, and you may be left with a lot of loose bedding around the edges that hasn't composted.
For large horse farms with many horses, composting is more problematic due to bulk of manure that has to be stored. The composting process can be speeded up by aerating the piles with a tractor, but you will still need to set aside a large area for the piles.
Remember to save your used feed bags throughout the year to bag and sell your compost.
Different Types of Horse Bedding
Horses can be bedded on a variety of alternatives including straw, wood shavings, shredded paper and wood pellets. Straw is the best material for composting as it breaks down quickly.
Shavings and pellets take longer to decompose. Try to be economical when mucking out, and get as little bedding as possible into the muck heap to keep volume to a minimum.
Problems
Many horses these days are fed a cereal-based diet. Some of this can pass through the digestive system into the droppings, and end up in the muck heap. The process of composting should kill these seeds, but occasionally some may survive and sprout in the compost, making it less desirable for gardeners.
You may also find that storing a large quantity of manure for the required number of months is inconvenient.
However, composting horse manure still remains the most cost effective and environmentally friendly method of manure disposal, and can even earn a few bonus dollars.
Sara Walker - I graduated from the University of Liverpool with a BA in English and French, and spent many years working as a software trainer and then ...
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