Vermicomposting Horse Manure: Is It a Good Idea?
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Read the Ultimate Guide to Vermicomposting to take you past the beginner level! urbanwormcompa...
Horse manure is an excellent feedstock for earthworms but there are a few concerns I have for someone who intends to use earthworms to manage all of it.
Import Points about Horse Manure and Vermicomposting
1:01 How much does the average horse poop each day and how many worms do I need to process that waste?
1:50 Do you need to hot compost horse manure?
2:42 Persistent herbicides are a problem with horse manure
3:19 Hot composting actually concentrates persistent herbicide strength
4:25 Aerated static pile composting is a great idea for precomposting
Steve I live in Australia. we have thirteen horses on this property and I collect the horse manure as I need it.I have been feeding horse manure to my worms for 30 odd years. I collect it in 25 litre plastic buckets then fill the buckets with water. I then leave the buckets sit for some weeks before feeding it to the worms. I wear rubber gloves and lift out the solid matter and put it straight in the farm. I leave the water in the bucket and reuse it for the next batch. This is all I feed my worms and have 30 small farms currently (each farm is about 50 litres capacity). Eight will be harvested for the castings in the next week or so and the worms from each farm will probably make two farms. I have just started experimenting with pig manure as well. I harvested the castings from a farm and split the worms into two farms. One had horse manure and one had pig manure. At this stage (about 6 weeks) I am seeing no difference.
I ran an experiment, and it works for me. You have to be sure it is broken down enough not to be hot
Yep! The fresh stuff will heat up quickly.
Black soldier fly larvae might be able to help your friend with her manure problem. They might not be able to break down all the fibrous manure but they can certainly reduce the volume.
will black soldier flies survive a UK climate hence are they viable .?
@@gategi10 they might already be in your environment. It sometimes on seldom occasions get down to single digit degrees fahrenheit here and they still naturally survive our winters. I think alot of them are less active in the winter though.
Thank you for sharing all this information. I just started a worm bin and you have answered every beginner questions I have had so far.
You got it Boomer! Thanks for the kudos! :)
I compost hot 9 cut ft at a time and after it cools sit in mature piles for 6 months to a year. I now add composting worms to the mature piles.
I feed horse manure to my worms all the time with no pre composting. It hasnt been an issue and the worms do well. Of course this is at a much lower volume then what is being described here, I basically go to the local pony club where they sell the manure in old feed bags. I have dumped a small hand full of worms directly into these bags as an experiment and let them sit for a few months, and when you open them up the population has increased significantly.
Nice try I'll give you a B-, manure is low in protein and will not sup
@@rodsredwormsgrubs8098 If i leave an apple on your desk can you up my grade to a B+?
The manure is just the base. I add vegetable scraps to keep it ticking. Then the odd steak and eggs for more protein. Sometimes i mix the worms a vanilla whey shake for when they really wanna get jacked and go shirtless at the beach.
Does the bag need aeration i thought this would be anaerobic ?? i am experimenting thought of small dustbins with holes driiled near top and at base for drainage and a lid .if so what diameter holes , and where ???and does the lid to bin need holes too i have put 1 4 inch holes all around lid .. My manure is free the g hoprse stables just leaves it on the side of the road both very fresh and partially composted . potential enormous if you know what you are doing
@@gategi10 The feed bags have tiny holes all over the place as they are woven with whatever plastic/nylon they use to make the bags from, and the tops are just tied together with string, so its reasonably open.
Ive experimented with plastic garbage bins, and the worms will do just fine in them, i drill holes in the lid for aeration and a small one at the base to prevent moisture build up. But i would say you don't want them filled too deep with manure. Especially if you are feeding with scraps as the worms cluster under the feed and dont really explore the lower sections. So you have a lot of manure that gets ignored by the worms. I would add a layer, add the worms, then slowly fill it up so they get a chance to turn over each new layer.
I have a Peter Moon, o2compost unit for my 4 horses. It’s magic. I cook it for 3 months and then spread on my pastures. No weeds and healthy soil. 👍🏻🤠
Yes.....I love O2Compost! Peter is a gentleman.
interesting, just watched another youtuber in hungray with huge supply from neighbours horses laying it down as mulch and leaving it (no planting atm)
@@aceofspades5786 Yes, horse poop doesn't really burn the ground.
Thanks Steve
This is just what I was thinking about..
I live in Alaska and I have to compost inside and don't know what to do..
Now I do 😊🎉 time to research ASP composting
Thanks! I can’t say that winter composting in Philly and Alaska will be the same but you should still be able to get your piles to heat up!
I agree that thirty horses would require to many worms, but worms reproduce exponentially. A pound can become ten pounds in a year.
I added a layer of my worm bin to my manure pile from two horses 25 years ago in Anchorage, Alaska and they've took off and winter over with no problem. I use a side to side rotation in a 10 by 20 foot area. I harvest the composted manure from one side after a year as I add to the other. The worms migrate into the fresh side.
I don't sell castings, but use it on my property and nursery businesses in my. I have sold hundreds of pounds of worms. They are always on the top in the fresh manure. It only heats up when it's deeper in the pile and self insulates. The worms move away from areas that are too hot.
I started selling five gallon buckets of manure with a estimated pound of worms. Other horse owners are amazed at how fast their piles shrink with the worm activity. I also sell just measured amounts of worms, but the sorting is very labor intensive.
I'd recommend an elongated row for someone with many horses with say ten pounds of worms. Purchase worms or collect from existing manure sources. You add manure to one end and in time you can harvest finished compost from the other. The worms will continue to move to the fresher end. It may require a water source along the top, and tarping to control weed growth.
Thanks Tim!
What about cow manure? I'm about to start my little worm farm and I have an abundant supply of cow manure. Most of the cow manure I use is at least one year old. I feel like it is composted enough that it shouldn't be too hot like horse manure. Love your channel. Love your information. Love your knowledge and explanation
I just add it dry to the bins along with other kitchen scraps every day. They love it..
better than horse as it doesn't contain weed seeds (which the worms don't break down
My initial supply of red worms for my worm bed was in a load of 5 year old horse manure. For thirty horses, that would mean huge piles.
Lady across town is selling her bags of composted horse manure and says no herbicides with her horses.
She is making money off of it. I bought some in the spring to try as well and plants are doing well.
I also added to my outdoor worm bin to see how they like it and yes. I thought I heard red wigglers originated from horse manure but could be wrong. I agree we need to be careful of source with regards to herbicides.
I hot compost my horse manure in 21 days and have nver had a problem even with horse wormer in it
Nope.....it doesn't even target the earthworms species.
Use some black soldier fly larva aka composting piranas to compost it .worms can eat the frass they produce.pill bugs can remove heavy toxins from the soil.also add some fungi innoculants to it to help.mushrooms have all kinds of benefits including eating and growing on plastic.
Horse manure has so many weed seeds that it would be a constant struggle with seedlings.....lots of luck getting that hot compost pile to get rid of seeds.....
I watched a you tube years ago where a cut flower farm in Africa used a system of breeding the worms aswell as composting all the waste plant material from the flower cutting . They were extracting all the juice at same time and the amount of worms produced was staggering i think in the millions . Of course this was industrial scale but would the breeding of the worms not be an option to cope with the horse manure
Would I need to pre-compost rabbit manure? It's one of those hot/cold manures that can be used without ocmposting in the garden. As long as I am careful not to cause the worm bin to heat up due to the high nitrogen in the rabbit manure, I assume I can safely use fresh rabbit manure in my vermicomposting bin?
People grows worms under meat rabbit cages.
@@LLoydwng interesting - good to know, thanks!
The one thing I have noticed it that nobody seems to mention and that is any intelligent horse owner does is that its common practice to give your horse's a de-wormer paste and large operations with lots of horses will use the paste every three to four months. Even though this is to control parasites' and tape worms horse manure can have residue traces of de-wormer still in their manure which cam effect your worms.
Actually, I'm not convinced it has an effect on the worms. It targets a totally different class of worms.
I live behind a race corce so I can take as much horse poo as I like . I am aware of the worm paste and the antibiotics used in race horses and i cook it in the sun first . I am wondering whether or not the herbicides you speak of would be fed to race horses . I have over a million worms to feed so taking advantage of free trailer loads when ever I want would be great .
Hey Robert! The herbicides themselves wouldn't be fed to horses but the horses may be eating hay that has been treated with these persistent herbicides. It may be worth asking the stable owner to see if he/she knows about the source of the hay.
They are probably feeding sprayed hay or alfalfa. The herbicides are in the manure.
I do have a question about horse manure. I live about 15 minutes away from a state park that has horse riding trails. The park has a manure bin that has a "Free Fertilizer" sign on it. I am just starting a worm farm - by the end of the summer I may have 3-4 bins going. Can I gather a 5 gallon pail every now and then to supplement other worm food - and maybe not even hot compost it first if I only use a couple of cups full at a time in my feedings?
Absolutely. This is a great idea.
What is the proper Ph level for the worm bedding. I can get it measured, and adjust in either direction, but I don't know the target. Would I be right in guessing about 7?
Thanks!
Yes, pH should be pretty neutral for bedding!
I live next to county / city ground which is primarily for houses ( Rodeo etc.) Lots of House manure. I may have picked up 1,000 - 5 gallon buckets of Horse manure. for my large garden (over 24 months). Now a few idiots coming to me and scaring me that the house manure contains lots of bad things (hormones, chemicals, etc. + worms, parasites, etc. --------- they can get into plants and vegies) than good things. -------- I am furious I cannot reverse everything ( too expensive in labor cost, etc.). ---------- lets cut to the chase ------- can I spray melathion and leave the soil / land unused for a year ( I hate use of chemicals but not an anti-chemical nut) ?
What's the name of chemical compounds in those persistent herbicides?
Here in Germany I know only aminopyralid.
Get my horse manure from people who do organic farming on their own grasslands.
The common ones are aminopyralid, picloram, aminocyclopyrachlor & clopyralid. If asking a farmer about them, it's best to ask if they use any of the brand names listed at this link:
www.compostingcouncil.org/page/PersistentHerbicideProducts
Cheers!
Did an Internet search on whether worms will remediate herbicides and surprisingly found no information at all.
Someone needs to do a scientific study on this. Only found info that Glysophate (active ingredient in Roundup) is supposed to dissipate in 6 weeks but I'd still want verification whether that claim is reliable. Other herbicides can be a lot more persistent and be an issue.
The plus for using worms is that in various situations, worms have remediated even sewage to where the resulting castings have been deemed safe for use but again... If you're concerned about a specific chemical, I'd prefer some study verify the effectiveness of compost worms.
So, bottom line is that if herbicides is the specific known issue to resolve, the jury is out on this for now.
Maybe someone should write a letter to the Dept of Agriculture asking for someone to authorize a study, it can't cost much to do a proper study of this and maybe some other pollution and contaminents at the same time to make the study cost effective.
In Europd where the red wiggled comes from the worms come to horse poo all by themselves. No need to buy them
Hey Steve what about dewormers given to horses or other livestock. Do you have any information about how that may persist in manure and effect compost worms?
I think it narrowly targets parasitic worms. I think it t also loses most of its effectiveness after a few weeks.
You could advertise free horse manure people will come and pick up, maybe not all but will help reduce your pile.
This is very helpful for beginners just like me. May i asked a question about cow manure per-composting time? Is the Cow manure also take 4-6 weeks for break down and best for worms bedding as well as worm food.
Cow manure, like other manures, needs 4-6 weeks of composting to stabilize it if you plan to vermicompost in an enclosed system.
Lookup Sonora worm farm j think I Cali. I think they compost pretty short maybe three or four weeks cause he points out in his video they want it decomposed so the manure doesn’t heat up when feed to worms so it doesn’t kill worms, but he said if you compost it to long a lot of energy and feed quality is removed from the compost. I’m not entirely sure but I guess it makes sense as you compost a lot of material and energy is given off. Course the video of their operation was like fresh dairy manure put into steel bins and temperatures were monitored.
I’ve never answered that question. Does composting to long remove energy or lower the feed quality for worms? The Sonora worm farm had the best red wiggled prices I found especially if ya buy the ten pound box.
I would request to Kindly provide me Video and literature on Vermi composting using Chicken Litter and waste.
Chicken waste needs to age first before it can be added to worms ...wait till it cools back down .
OK which worms ??? same worms ???? i get worms like vermicomposting so my question can i use it too ?? yes i yes i bro much love and love
Tell her to give the manure to the person she buys the hay off. If they use herbicides, then they won't have to spray after spreading the manure 😂 if she makes her own hay, then spread the manure on the hay fields. If she's worried about pathogens, hot compost first of send all the manure through a pelitizer temps can get quite high and may kill off the bugs. Whatever happens, that manure is gold. Managed correctly a 3kg box of horse manure £8.90 on amazon 😅
Do you think worms would prefer composted rabbit manure over just adding it to the bedding not composted? Or would there be a benefit either way? Thank you
Rabbit manure is one of the few manures that can be added to a worm bin without composting. I would just watch the salt levels so you may want to rinse it first!
@@UrbanWormCompany thank you. Another thing that you pointed out is we also feed ours hay and it could have residual herbicide in it. I appreciate everything you do.
Worms are free. Even if you only buy a pound, if you manage them right you could have 20 pounds of worms in a year, and 400 pounds in two years.
Well it’s not a problem I think if you know your farmer or you grow hay yourself. We grow hay in a hundred acres and don’t spray thistles. A shovels does the trick or some operations Sprays thistles with like molasses so cows will eat them. I bet most never heard of that. People could just drive by the farm where they pick up hay and talk to find out. That’s one issue with people being to far removed from the farm they have no idea about what they’re buying.
"Crap ton of worms" hehehehe
It's a thing! :)
One issue though that’s actually common is dewormer cause most everyone deworms once a year or they probably should. Maybe dewormer medicine makes some horse manure idk.
Dewormer does not target earthworms species. Even if it does' it breaks down quite rapidly. I want to say 3 weeks or so is all that is needed for dewormer to break down
dont forget horse wormer is probally in the manure also
Wait, how does a horse ear/drink 50lbs of feed : water every day ?????? I mean I guess I have seen the size of the poo… but🤯
IMO the main known issue about using horse (or any animal) manure or animal products is if the worm castings might be used to grow plants used for human consumption. If the worm castings are used only to process the manure to be used back in the same fields for horses, I don't see an issue immediately.
But, if any castings are used in a garden or field of crops for human consumption, there is always the concern of infecting the crops with human pathogens like e. coli and salmonella which can come from any animal waste or by product. Although the chances are very small, no one wants even the slightest chance of causing a disease outbreak of any size when it's so easy to just avoid the possibility altogether.
What about Johnson Su Bioreactors for the static composting process?
That could certainly work, but it's a bit of a slower process. I haven't tried it, but I'd like to!
@@UrbanWormCompany Check out Diego Footer out here. He has some awesome designs (both traditional and hybrids).
Black soldier fly larvae
No need for worms to compost horse poop 🤷♀️🤦♀️
You completely wasted my time and your breath. She asked if she could use waste matter she already had to fuel her worm bins. You didn't answer the question.
Use some black soldier fly larva aka composting piranas to compost it .worms can eat the frass they produce.pill bugs can remove heavy toxins from the soil.also add some fungi innoculants to it to help.mushrooms have all kinds of benefits including eating and growing on plastic.
"Composting piranhas".....love it.
@@UrbanWormCompany i agree i use them with my compost and manure piles to add insect frass to it.