Composting Horse Manure

You can compost it using the pile method or with red wiggler worms (aka manure worms).

If you are going to use the pile method, it is important to layer the manure with plenty of fiber material like straw, leaves or cardboard. (which usually is not a problem because it is used as bedding material for the stalls).And to keep the pile wet. I go one step further and say completely rinse the straw bedding 2-3 times before even adding it to the compost pile. Why? Get all the urine out. Now layer manure/bedding/manure/bedding and so on. Water it 2-3 times a week. Turn it every 6-8 weeks.Using this simple method, it will take approximately 6 months for the manure to become usable compost.

You may choose to use to composting worms help speed up the process. But if you do, there are several tips that will help you succeed.

• Rinse the poop to remove as much urine as possible before adding to pile/bin (most of the time horse manure is mixed with straw or shavings which will absorb the urine) worms dont like urine
• Make sure the horses have not be DEWORMED with a chemical dewormer, if they have then you need to let the manure sit for at least 8 weeks before adding to bin.
• fresh manure will heat, so let it sit for 3-4 weeks before adding to bin (I always let mine sit for 2 months before adding)
• Do not broadcast feed the poop in a worm bin, just in case it is "bad" or the worms dont like it, just feed in 1/4-1/2 of the bin so they have somewhere to go if they dont like it.

Composting equine poo can be extremely beneficial to your garden, the end results are nutrient rich compost that will nourish well.

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