Horse poooo

[sprtsguy76]

I did read Darrel's recent post on his use of rabbit manure. There is a Bunny Barn Farm in Gilroy which is a 35 minute drive from here. Only thing is I have to call them and see if they would be willing part with some poooo, this will be interesting.

Damon

[Mischka]

Originally Posted by sprtsguy76

I did read Darrel's recent post on his use of rabbit manure. There is a Bunny Barn Farm in Gilroy which is a 35 minute drive from here. Only thing is I have to call them and see if they would be willing part with some poooo, this will be interesting.

Damon

It will be worth the call and the trip, if they agree to it. Please let us know what they say. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a 'mater patch somewhere on the premises!

[b54red]

I used to have a source for great quality horse manure from a stable that trained horses. They were rather pampered and not left out roaming the pasture too much so there was a limited amount of weed seed. It was a great all around fertilizer and soil amendment with the large amount of broken down straw. Only problem was I had to load it by hand which was doable thirty years ago but not now. The biggest bonus was its' effect on nematodes. Before I started using it nematodes would kill most of my tomatoes before the fusarium could even get to them. After using it for a few years the nematode problem was almost gone.
I raised rabbits for about 10 years and loved the manure for not only tomatoes but for any vegetable. You will also get a huge supply of red worms with it.
Now I use mostly cow manure from a certified organic dairy. The problem with organically raised cows is they feed in the field more and you do get some grass and weed seed with it even after composting. The biggest benefit of the organically raised cows is that the manure has a much milder odor than the manure I have used from a traditional dairy.

[Mark0820]

The horse manure I used came from a stable too. That is probably why I didn't have a weed problem.

[Fred Hempel]

Originally Posted by sprtsguy76

I did read Darrel's recent post on his use of rabbit manure. There is a Bunny Barn Farm in Gilroy which is a 35 minute drive from here. Only thing is I have to call them and see if they would be willing part with some poooo, this will be interesting.

Damon

Damon,

If you want rabbit manure, bring something to carry it home in when you come to our farm open house. We get rabbit manure from a breeder with a barn-full of rabbits.

Fred

[sprtsguy76]

Fred- that is very kind of you and I thank you. My only problem is want to get it tilled into the soil like yesterday, before I plant my romanesco and brussel sprouts in early Febuary (if that isn't too early). Could you possibly direct me to a local source? Thanks.

Damon

[Fred Hempel]

Yes. My farm. You don't have to wait until January to visit. Let's email. You can have manure by early this week.

[tjcnok]

We are fortunate enough to have a farm truck with a dump bed. We called around to several differant horse farms in our area and they were all interested in letting us haul their stall bedding off. One wanted us to leave the truck so they could load it when they had the spare time, which of course we weren't comfortable doing. We have enough of a stock pile t allow it to set for a year before we actually add it to our gardens. When the year is up it has composted down to approx. 1/2. Great stuff! Don't think we could manage half as much produce without the addition to our really awful clay/sand stone soil. The earthworms love it!

[feldon30]

Good cow manure usually costs $3.50-5 a bag. The 97 cent stuff is mostly sand and scrapings off vacant lots.

I really like sheep manure, and I know rabbit manure is great but finding the quantities necessary is tough.

As mentioned, sheep and rabbit manure can be applied fresh.

[sprtsguy76]

Well I hooked up with Fred yesterday and he was kind enough to let me take three half full large garbage bags of rabbit manure, which will plenty for my small garden. It was a bit aged and composted which is a plus.

Damon