Recycle Horse Manure, become an Equine Eco-Warrior, and Make Money

Successfully recycle stable muck and field dung into high-quality compost. This compost has a commercial value and will reduce/eliminate the need to dispose of your muck and dung.

Alternatively, You could Utilise the Compost

• Compost can be spread on your fields as a very useful fertilizer
• Compost can be used as horse bedding

Do not throw your hands up in horror, as there will be no harm to your horses.

Compost is a Byproduct of Stable Muck and Field Dung

• The heat generated in producing compost will kill parasitic larvae or worms
• High-quality compost is not the same as urine-soaked bedding as both the dung and urine have been broken down

What remains is a non-toxic compost that does not smell and is a safe bedding alternative for your horses. In addition, compost can be safely used to fertilise fields and improve soil structure.

You have Read Enough, now learn to make this Wonder Product

Compost can be produced from:

• Field dung
• Mucked out stable bedding.

The Ingredients to make Excellent Compost

• Good ventilation and airflow
• The correct amount of moisture
• Turning as required

Setting up a Small Hot Composting Operation for 2 Horses

Start on a small scale and make good compost. Remember that your muck heap is not a compost heap.

Create a Contained Area

The smallest structure for excellent composting measures 1m by 1m by 1m but bigger is better. The more structures available the more composting possible, but to begin with 3 structures will do.

The Three Structures

Three structures will permit the various stages of compost production. After 4 to 6 months the first filled section contains the finished product. The second section will have partially composted muck, while the third will contain the raw muck.

The structures can be made out of any serviceable materials. Three sides of a square without a base or top section will do.

Making the Hot Compost

These two things are most important:

• The ability to turn the muck weekly
• The need to control the moisture content.

By making hot compost in this way aerobic organisms will break the dung down into high-quality compost. In addition, the smell associated with a wet muck heap will not develop.

1. Turning the muck

The muck from your stable will be a mixture of bedding dung and urine. By the time this is put in a wheelbarrow it is already partly mixed up. However, use a fork and mix it some more before putting it on your compost heap.

The compost will be the hottest in the middle and this heat will kill seeds and pathogens. Turn the composting material weekly so that fresh parts are moved into the hottest area. This will allow oxygen to circulate around the pile and make good compost.

2. Controlling the Moisture

It is important to keep the composting muck damp but not saturated. This means keeping the top covered in wet weather and watering in hot dry weather.

The End Product is Organic Compost

After 4 months your first batch is ready and then you have choices. These will be:

• keep the compost until you have enough for bedding and this will not take long if you use rubber matting in your stables
• Improve your paddocks by applying compost and this will improve your grass production
• Bag and sell the compost.

Selling Compost

Selling on a commercial footing means using sealed bags. These must show your logo and give a breakdown of the production method and explain why the product is excellent for plants.