# YOUR manure management



## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

I am just curious how everyone goes about manure management at their farm/barn? The options are seemingly endless and there really are a lot of "right" ways to go about it.

Let me know in the poll, and sound off below with tips, tricks, and concerns.


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

Mainly we scoop up the most active area of the pasture - near the barn where the hay bunk is - with the tractor. We normally have 2-3 piles and empty shavings/poop from pig pens & cat litter on them.  

Then we'll spread it on the pasture/hay field whenever its good.
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## Cruiser (Aug 28, 2011)

I put other, but it's because I use whatever works for the moment. Right now it's just a pile nothing done to it, but twice a year it's turned with a tractor that we borrow. In the spring a few people will come pick some up and the rest is spread on the field. In the fall it's turned, some is spread and some put on the gardens to rot down. All manure is spread by hand, with a atv pulling a cart and someone walking behind raking it off. So it's a lot of work, but I refuse to have a huge manure pile all the time. 

All manure is picked off the fields and paddocks, I don't have enough room to drag the field to let it compost as it sits. But I own only a large pony mare so it's not horrible.


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

I used to (and will again someday) muck the stalls, pastures, paddocks, arena, wherever the horse(s) were and then it went into one of four 8'x8'x4' compost bays where it was composted. It was something like a homemade Paragon system Paragon Compost Systems - O2 Compost

If there was too much or as the compost was finished it would be given away or sold. So it was a combination. If there was too much manure at any one time it would be piled up and turned by hand near the composting system.


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## EncinitasM (Oct 5, 2014)

There's an "organic farm" adjacent to the rescue that allows us to dump all our manure and soiled bedding, roughly 6 small wheelbarrow loads a day, into a small field where they are developing a soil base for an orchard. Our soil here is all sand until amended. It's composted and bulldozed flat repeatedly. It's one of those rare win-win situations.


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

We have a 40 acre pasture so we do nothing with the manure in it. The pasture is large enough that manure just breaks down over time without becoming a problem or even bring noticeable.

We have free choice shelterand I swear the jerk horses run in from the field just to poop in it. I live over an hour away (this is my parents' place) so I am not able to clean the shelter regularly. When I do clean it, we put it in a pile a distance away from the barn and let it decompose naturally.
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## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

We are on 40+ acres, but the horses only have 5 acres total split between 2 different areas of the farm. The remainder of the acreage is in corn and bean fields. We have a Gator with a dump bed on it. Poop goes into the gator then we dump it in the fields. The gator doesn't like to start when it's below 20 degrees...so I will pile the manure up in a corner of a paddock and in the spring we scoop it up with the tractor and it goes into the field and garden.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I have 5 acres, 5 of which is turnout/pasture, which my horses have seeded, except for my south pasture, about 3/4 acres worth. I am fixing my south pasture this year, so the the horses will only get about one good grazing out of it before I kick them off for repairs until Spring, 2016.
I have 7 pine trees south of this pasture, where I have raised the crown, but they have been growing weeds, so I have been emptying my stalls under them to smother weeds. Ha, ha, I also waited until last week to plant 30 daffodils there bc it was easy to push the bulbs down into soiled pine shavings!


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## Kristyjog (Nov 11, 2013)

We put all of our manure from the horse stalls and goats pens in a pile. Our neighbor comes every month and gets all the manure and spreads it on his avacado orchard.
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## canterbury (Jun 29, 2014)

We have a five acre farm, two acre pasture, large barn, stall and dry lot all within close proximity to our house. Therefore, I absolutely have to clean manure daily. We rent a 2 yard dumpster with semi-weekly dumping. Is it MUCH easier and cleaner than composting and spreading (yep, I tried) and I only have to handle the manure once! For us, it's worth the additional cost.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Pick what we need for the gardens then drag the rest. I do have a compost pile but it is for kitchen waste. I do add manure from the chicken coops and leaves there rather than spreading that in the fields or using straight as it would burn everything up. DH found that out when he got the bright idea to side dress my peach trees with it and killed everyone. He didn't use all that much either.


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## ducky123 (May 27, 2014)

Horseychick87 said:


> I used to (and will again someday) muck the stalls,


I hate picking up poop in the winter! It's quite a mess and a huge chore come spring. This year, we had a nice warm streak a few days back and got it all cleaned up, then it snowed. It will be a much quicker job if and when spring returns!


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