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I did a search in this forum and didn't find much. I'm looking for tiny acreage (1 acre), 2 horse manure management resources. I did find a good doc online from Penn State, but am looking for more. I do have Cherry Hill's "Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage."
Just looking for more info. Thanks!
I know of several small places that use a dumpster type system that is picked up at regular intervals, since they have no place to compost or spread.
Some lawn and garden places can give you phone numbers of people who will haul it off - check other small barns or private homes - estate homes with a small barn to see who hauls their manure away. In my area it is usually up to $100.00 per dump truck. I believe the man sells it to the Grass Pad - Lawn and Garden Center - so he is making money off of picking it up and then selling it for fertilizer. What a deal ! But he owns a dump truck and we do not.
People in my area post ads on craigslist and give it away. Many people have had success with that.
I have two horses and they take up 2 acres of my property. Over the winter (Nov-April) I pile it up and a friend of ours spends a day with his tractor and dump trailer hauling it to the dump. We live in an agricultural town that welcomes our manure for compost. This April and on I have been hand spreading (the equivalent of 1 wheelbarrow a day) manure on my establishing pasture. We are reclaiming what was a heavy wooded are and creating a small pasture. We will keep this up until we no longer have a use for it then we will break down and buy the dump trailer :(.
I hate flies, so I admit that I am a bit of control freak when it comes to manure. Spreading it dries it quickly and fly predators take care of the rest.
May I suggest using pelleted bedding--it will drastically cut down your output. Either a dumpster/haul away system or 3 manure bins to rotate and turn your manure, to reduce the bulk by composting. I think Deltawave has photos of her system-- I lust after her design.
I have 2 horses on 4 acres, but essentially for 5 months out of the year, they are in a sacrifice area of 48 x 70. I use pelleted bedding, they are in 12 out 12 a day. I have a rotational pile, that is turned by our tractor regularly. Come spring, I have a pile of finished, composted manure ready to give away (well, DH "charges" in beer--a truckload/trailer load is a case of microbrew, preferably Moose Drool from Big Sky Brewing in Missoula:lol:)
I keep my plastic bedding bags and refill them for customers who have cars or only want a bit of compost. This year, I gave it all away--except what went into my gardens.
Thanks!
I have two dumpsters that are picked up on a weekly basis by a waste disposal company. It costs about $125/month.
I have never taken any bedding/manure off our property and it is s m a l l. It breaks down and gets spread once a year. Thirty years worth and it all disappears and we have a great little pasture....limed, manured, over-seeded when necessary, mowed.
I have never taken any bedding/manure off our property and it is s m a l l. It breaks down and gets spread once a year. Thirty years worth at about six tons a year = 180 tons, and it all disappears and we have a great little pasture....limed, manured, over-seeded when necessary, mowed.
Heh, well this property will be in Albuquerque, so chances are there will be no "pasture," just a dry lot. :)
I have a dumpster that gets dumped 3 times a week, for 13 horses. Every peice of poop gets picked up and put in the dumpster. Works great!
I have four horses (two full-sized, two minis) and all manure (from stalls and from field) gets picked up, put in trash cans, and removed every week. Our barn is at the bottom of hill so we couldn't do a dumpster (trash co. won't drive down the hill) so every Sunday night, I drag trash cans up using our LandRover. Had some trial and error at first but now it's a piece of cake! I used to drag the two-acre field, which was ok, but one of my horses was having some weird manure issues (since taken care of) so I started picking up all the manure out there. What's another chore????
We have neighbors who do NOTHING with their manure; it simply stays out in their fields and I guess it eventually disintegrates. I can't stand it, however. Other neighbors compost. I think we're the only ones who have ours taken away.
Alburquerque - that's a little out of my area of knowledge - heck I couldn't even spell it if I hadn't copied it :)
8 acres, 15 horses, small dumpster picked up 2x/week (they tried a bigger dumpster 1x/week, but it was so heavy filled with manure that the garbage truck couldn't lift it!)
Jennifer
I had a 1.1 acre property and 2 horses many moons ago and we did not have to haul any manure out- we used it all, but it is labour intensive, unless you have a small loader.
The property had about 1/4 acre for the house lawns and gardens, and 3 paddocks- one was a drylot area, about 50 x 50. The other 2 were grassed paddocks that were in rotation during the growing season they were about 75 by 100.
I composted all the manure for at least 6 months. I had a 3 bin compost area, the bins were about 8x8. I would fill one bin, turn it over into the next, etc until all 3 bins were full- that took about 6 months. Then it would get spread on the grass paddocks, or used as mulch around the various garden areas.
Now we have 3 acres and 4 horses and a loader. People are forever asking if they can have some of my manure and I say no, because again, we use it all. Well actually, I tell them they are welcome to come and dig and load it themselves, but they are thinking I should spend the afternoon loading my own truck and then unload it at their place, so uh, no thanks, my own garden keeps me busy enough. We compost it all for at least 6 months, then use it as the black gold it is. People pay actual money for this stuff at the garden center. It grows great roses and veggies.
^^^ Thanks!
Manure is "brown gold" not "toxic waste." Paying to have it hauled away (unless you're a truly urban stables with no land availble) is like lighting cigars with $100 bills.
Consult your local Extension Office for information.
Compost, spread, and enjoy the result. Unless, of course, prohibited by law or circumstance.
G.
I have 25 acres but no room for a manure pile.
I was contacted by an organic veggie farm asking if they could have my manure. I told them if they kept a small trailer in my parking lot (with the other horse trailers) that I could fill the trailer and call them when it's full or at least close to it and they can come pick it up, unload it and bring it back. That way, I don't have to keep putting it in the overflowing flower beds nor do I have to put it in a large pile.
You could post an ad on Craigslist saying Organic Fertilizer or see if there are any farms in your area looking for organic fertilizer. You may be able to sell it. :)