Manure storage/ compost?

[Gwyneth]

I’m trying to come up with a long-term plan of how I want to deal with my horse’s manure. I have 4 horses (sort of - 2 miniatures, 1 pony, and 1 full sized horse) on a small property (5 acres, but only 3ish are usable). For the past couple of years I’ve been dumping the manure in a dip/ small ravine that I wanted filled in, but that’s almost full now so I need to come up with another solution.

I’ve been thinking about having a couple of sheds/ containers so that I can fill up one and then let it sit and compost while the other is being filled (see attached picture of what I’m thinking). We’ll use the composted manure on our gardens and flower beds, and whatever we don’t/ can’t use we’ll just give away to our neighbours. We also get a lot of rain here, so whatever container I get will need a roof otherwise the manure gets too wet to rot properly.

My problem is that I don’t know what size it needs to be or how many compartments I should have. How many months does it take for the manure to compost? Three? Six?

I’ve been doing some calculations, and I keep coming up with a fairly large container. My wheelbarrow holds 8 cubic feet, and I clean up about a load and a half a day (doing stalls with pelleted bedding and paddocks). So, that means that I roughly dump around 12 cubic feet per day. Which, over the span of just 3 months, is apparently 1080 cubic feet! According to that, I would need an area of 14X14’ with the manure piled between 5-6’ high which would be filled in 3 months. That seems like a big area for a couple of tiny horses and one regular sized horse. My math could be wrong (I’ve never liked that stuff), but does this seem about the right size?

TIA!

[Mango20]

Your manure pile will get smaller as it sits, so in reality, you wouldn’t be increasing its size by 12 cubic feet per day.

I think three compartments would be ideal: one to add to, one working on being composted, and one that’s ready for use. The time it takes to compose would be influenced by temperature and moisture, and whether you plan to aerate or turn the pile as it composts.

[horsepoor]

I keep at most 3 full size horses at my house and we have a 3 bin system. Mine are built into the slope below the barn so easy to access from above dumping wheelbarrow in, and then we have gates across the opposite side which are accessed with the tractor on a road down there. I wish we had built a shed roof and we still hope to add it, but for now they are covered with heavy duty tarps, as we are in a very rainy area.

Each of the 3 bins is 8’x8’ and probably 6’ high, although theoretically you could let the pile get bigger since there isn’t a roof, but it would be super difficult to dump onto. We fill the middle bin with the newest stuff (it is the most easily accessed from the barn, a straight shot slightly downhill from that door). Then when it is full, it gets turned into one of the other bins. Fill the middle bin again, turn the older stuff into the 3rd bin, turn middle (newest) into that newly emptied bin. Once we get to where that 3rd bin needs to go, it is beautiful compost, ready to use and we mostly use ourselves on our property but also have given some to neighbors.

Time wise, I think at our current occupancy of 3 horses, it takes 2 months to fill one bin. If I spent more time turning it (besides just moving from one bin to the other as needed), it would break down even faster. I use pelleted bedding and we clean up everything (pastures too). It is amazing how much it will cook down – I’d say that final bin of compost is half the size of the original first pile.

[carman_liz]

I do not have a bin system right now either, but I have the pallets laying in a pile waiting to build one when the weather gets better! I would think yours will cook down timewise dependant on where you live and if you keep it covered. How big is the ravine you have been filling in? If you keep it covered with heavy duty tarps it will cook down as well and you can potentially still use that area if need be.

The three bin system will work great for you, do you ever drag your paddocks or have enough time to drag, mow, and let them rest and the drug manure work as fertilizer? I understand the small acreage, I have 3.63 and only about 1.5 usuable and fenced for now. So basically I have no super great advice but comiserate with you on the manure issue, good luck with your 3 bin and if you get it built, post updates with pictures please!!!

[Lucassb]

I have been impressed with the three bin composting systems I have seen. I have enough space to run a spreader for my little herd, but in the depths of winter it can sometimes get quite wet and then it’s quite a challenge not to get the spreader stuck so we’ve thought about installing a system to use during rainy periods. I found this article helpful: https://www.equisearch.com/discoverhorses/how-to-compost-horse-manure

[Simkie]

I have a 3 bin system and each bin is about 8’ x 16’. With four full sized horses that are bedded on pellets, those bins take about a year to fill. I don’t have a roof or cover over them. It does take a tractor with a loader to move the pile from one bin to another or out to whatever I’m using the compost for.

[ncsuequine]

I have been trying to figure out a long term plan for our 6 stall barn and composting has been on the list of things to explore. This is a property that we rent, so I have been hesitant to build anything we can’t take with us, but we just signed a 3 year lease, so I think I could see myself putting more permanent improvements into the property. Right now, we are dumping/spreading on 4 trails that we have throughout the property, which has been keeping the trails from getting too muddy (we use shavings) and provides a nice footing for the horses to trail ride on. However, I am not sure we are going to be able to do this for 3 years (might run out of space).

So I have a few questions about composting.

1. How much do the bins cost to make? I am sure this is dependent on size and how amazing I want them, but I am thinking just basic barebones, since this isn’t our property (and no, landlord would not split cost or help with this)
2. Can you compost using shavings as bedding? Do you have to separate out all the hay?
3. WE usually take out 3-8cu ft wheelbarrow loads per day. Do you think a 3 bin system of 8x14’ would be enough?

Thank you!

[HungarianHippo]

If I may tack on a question: Do those of you with the 3bin systems find that weed seeds are effectively destroyed? I have a compost pile that we don’t really ‘manage’–just keep adding to the top, and it does cook down and after a year or so, if I dig into the bottom of the pile, it’s beautiful black compost. However, it’s still full of weed seed–my husband’s vegetable garden positively erupts in grass and weeds if he uses it.
I do have a sloped area near the barn that would work for a multi-bin system where I load it from the top and turn/unload from the other side below. But I’m just wondering if it’s worth it. I have plenty of land to spread manure on, so I’d only be doing this for the compost.

[Simkie]

@ncsuequine

1. How much do the bins cost to make? I am sure this is dependent on size and how amazing I want them, but I am thinking just basic barebones, since this isn’t our property (and no, landlord would not split cost or help with this)
2. Can you compost using shavings as bedding? Do you have to separate out all the hay?
3. WE usually take out 3-8cu ft wheelbarrow loads per day. Do you think a 3 bin system of 8x14’ would be enough?

Thank you!

Cost can be nothing to $$$$. You can use tpost and pallets to put together a pretty solid bin for close to nothing.

Yes, shavings will compost. They’ll take longer than pellets.

No, 8x14 is probably too small. I have 8x16 for 4 horses on pelleted bedding, and remove one wheelbarrow a day, and the bin size has been just right.

@HungarianHippo tough to say FOR SURE because I don’t garden with the compost, but I think weed seeds are killed. The piles get very hot and are turned pretty regularly as the freshest stuff is pushed back and piled into the bin. And then everything is turned when it’s moved to the next bin. I’ve been using the compost to fill in low areas, and it’s pretty much just dirt until I seed it…I actually wouldn’t mind some growth right away! I give it some time (months, usually) to settle before I seed, so there’s definitely no eruption of weeds.

[fjordmom]

I think your math is about right.

My set up is similar to yours, however, I only have 2 bins of comparable size (roughly 12 x 14 x 5 each) with no roof. They have worked well for me with 2-3 horses. We do turn the pile now and then with our FEL - usually in early spring, once or twice during summer, and again just before putting the snow blower on for the winter (Have to remove the FEL at that point).

Our summers are dry, so if needed we will water the piles once or twice if needed. With your roof, you may need to water too. If things dry out, the composting will slow way down or stop.

I use pelleted bedding and am very happy with that arrangement. In the late fall we try to get a jump on spring by putting out as much compost as we have time for. After that, on the last turn of the season, we put everything into one bin so I have an empty bin to dump into for the winter.

Our winter is, well, northern winter, so not much composting happening those month. I just continue to dump on the pile. It’s surprising how fast things start cooking again in the spring.

With the size bins you have if they are being “fed” regularly, they should get hot enough to fry the weed seeds. We’ve never had a weed problem and use much of our compost on our gardens and raised beds. The manure will cook down to about half its volume in about 3 months.

We share our extra compost with friends and neighbors (who line up quickly to get the supply of black gold. Soil around here is rather sandy, so the compost goes to very good use.)

One recommendation though, I would not use those giant concrete blocks (Unless you got one crazy good deal on them). Concrete will suck out a LOT of moisture. We built our bin with wood (cedar IIR, DH surprised me by building it one day while I was out of town.) You could even use t-posts and pallets if you want a very budget version. We did that for a few years and it worked just fine. DH just loves building projects. :yes:

[D_K_Goodman]

I have the O2 Compost System. I set up the temporary style to see if I liked it and had it for 5 yrs. It was wonderful.

I plan to relocate within the year and when I do, I intend to buy the Benchmark System by O2.

[4horses]

I dump my fresh manure on the pasture making a straight line. I either drag it or mow it, or both. I tried to compost it, but i have no way of mixing the compost. Parasites aren’t a concern because my horses aren’t on pasture until summer and by then it is too hot for transmission. Within a few days you can barely tell where the manure was.

I don’t think I would want to store it. I don’t have a tractor to move it and i can’t imagine mucking it out by hand. The state parks use metal trash bins for the manure and the garbage truck comes for pickup. Perhaps it is only Ocala that does that.

I do have a compost pile for hay waste. It breaks down fast enough, i don’t do anything with it.

[Libby2563]

I didn’t have room for three bins so I built a two-bin aerated compost system for my small farm (2-3 horses and 1-2 mini donkeys). Each bin is 6’x6’x4’ and filled up in only 2-3 weeks when I had two large horses on stall rest, ugh. The longest they’ve taken to fill when the horses are stalled only part-time is 6 weeks. Thankfully my horses now live outside for more of the year so I rely on them less.

The materials cost $1,225, not including the blower that I got through O2 Compost. I went with O2 Compost since they offer tech support but that does increase the cost. I have more pics here: https://thesmallhorsefarm.blogspot.c…struction.html. Maybe you could do lids like I made instead of a full-on roof? They work very well.

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