Pile of poo

[Curlykale]

Today I was given a dozen bags of manure - not nice sweet well rotted horse manure, but wet and VERY smelly fresh farmyard manure!

Can I use it now or do I have to wait for it to rot down - if so how long will it take and how should I store it?

[binley100]

I reckon you should make a heap and let it rot down . I don't think you can use it when its smelly . Don't know how long it'll take tho'

[OllieMartin]

You can add it to your compost heap, the heat from the manure will help speed up the decomposition. You'll need to leave it 3-6 (more like 6 this time of year as cold weather slows down the process). Rhubarb however apparently likes 'short' manure. From what I read you don't want to think about adding it to the soil until the end of February at least as the rain will wash the nutrients through your soil before the plants get to use it anyway.
Rotting also helps degrade residues of drugs and eliminates pathogenic bacteria in non-organic horse manure.

[FionaH]

Fresh horse manure is best left for a year to rot down on its on. Less as Ollie said if you put some in your compost.

[Two_Sheds]

Can you just leave it in the bags (pierce some holes for drainage) to rot down? Like you do leafmould?

[rustylady]

Can you just leave it in the bags (pierce some holes for drainage) to rot down? Like you do leafmould?

You could, but the bigger the heap the quicker it will heat up and rot down into lovely useable organic matter. The old gardeners used to use fresh manure to make hot beds too. Make a frame and fill with fresh manure, as it heats up you can use it as a sort of propagator.

[OllieMartin]

You could, but the bigger the heap the quicker it will heat up and rot down into lovely useable organic matter. The old gardeners used to use fresh manure to make hot beds too. Make a frame and fill with fresh manure, as it heats up you can use it as a sort of propagator.

Apparently, if you put it in a large enough pile it can get hot enough to spontaneously combust! You'd need a pile larger than would be domestically practical though.

[Snadger]

A hotbed with a covering of soil will give you an early start with plants!

[Burnzie]

Hi Curly-Kale,

if you dont have room to stack it, how about digging it in now in the area you are planning to grow your beans or courgettes.

should be rotted enough by planting out time, May/June.

Burnzie

[OllieMartin]

Hi Curly-Kale,

if you dont have room to stack it, how about digging it in now in the area you are planning to grow your beans or courgettes.

should be rotted enough by planting out time, May/June.

Burnzie

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that if you dig it in too early all the nutrients are washed too deep into the soil to be any use. Also, when you do add it, it should be in a layer on the top of the soil so that the rain/watering washes the nutrients towards the roots.

Corrections anyone?

[Two_Sheds]

Horse muck is more of a soil improver than a fertiliser. I prefer to use such additives as a mulch and let the worms drag them down, aerating the soil as they go.

[HeyWayne]

Pile it up as much as you can.

I had a similar situation a couple of years ago. I managed to obtain a large amount of fresh horse poo and piled it high:

The Hay Wayne: Happy as a pig in sh*t!

12 months or so later it was a fantastic, soft and nutritious pile of soily stuff.

[Ian White]

To be honest i would pile it up and leave it for as long as you can,in about a year's time you'll have great soil improver

All the best,Ian

[Glutton4...]

Curly-kale, if you put it into a container, a bucket for example, around 2/3 full will do, then top it up with water and leave it for a week or so you can use it straight away. Also you can pour the water over your compost pile, if you have one.

[Curlykale]

Wow - thanks for all that helpful advice guys!

I think I'll add some to the compost heap and pile the rest up - presumably I need to cover the pile with some plastic or such like?

Thanks again folks