A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 horse hockey!

i have an opportunity to get all the horse hockey and/or stall muckings i want. the stall muckings are a conbination of what comes naturally combined with hay and wood chips/shavings. since i grew up around high octane chicken poo, i know nothing about the horsey side of life. which should i get first, what quantities, and will it get hot enough to kill the weeds in the compost bin? it will be giving to me in what ever size containers i furnish (lined with plastic). i was thinking about getting a rubber made 30 gal tote to use. or, a couple of tall kitchen garbage cans, since the liners are cheap and it won't weigh what a big garbage can would.

next question, how much other stuff will i need to go in the mix? i don't have many green anything... yard clippings don't exist at my house.

Jiff,
From what you wrote,
I'd go for the stall muckin' first...
Perfect combo, the horse "hockey" is the "green"
and the hay and wood chips/shavings are the "brown".
What a great way to get a perfect mix, it's already in it, mixed together.... and ready to put in your "bin" and virtually no mixing or turning.... should be able just to plunk it in...

One thing about horse hockey is, when any seeds go thru the digestional tract of a horse...
they don't get digested well... and remain intact
or viable... you will get weeds/grass from it...
nothing you can do about it..

I don't think it ever gets hot enough *I could be wrong* to completely kill the weed seeds either...

Also, I would almost have to say, it really depends on the type of seeds.. Some are more tenacious than others *****I never put any weed seeds in my compost, and only use roots from weeds after I've left them on top of cement or something black and they are soooooooooo fried and dead,
they'll NEVER COME BACK AGAIN!!!!*****

Are you leaving it in the bins or getting it in those bins to hold, transport and then put in a bigger bin???
For carring, smaller is better... *Lighter to carry*

It will eventually compost down all by it's self in the smaller bins...
(More so with the horse stuff with the wood stuff.)
May work faster in a larger bin with other stuff from your garden and kitchen scrap's.

The one with the wood shavings is almost complete if you want to stay with those two...
Brown and Green...
When you just have the horse poop, you then need "brown" with it..not more green, you'll end up with slurry if you add too much green...

And in making a bin, you need more brown,
or a 3 to 1 brown/green ratio.

Weezie

How'd I do????

Horse hockey I got, tons and tons and tons of the stuff.Along with it I have wood chips that I mix with my loader. Stuff cooks really hot and I have to be careful not to make the pile too big it will burn. When it is done I use it everywhere and yes Virginia you do get weeds from horse manure. The benefits out weigh the negatives, as this stuff can sure bring heavy soil to life. We have clay here and after a few years dressing with it I have deep topsoil. It gets better and better.
Last fall I got hold of several old pool covers and tilled one of the big gardens and covered it with them. I am going to wait until the ground gets warm before I remove them to see if it helps kill the weeds without chemicals. I know it will but how well is the question.
Another nice thing about horse rear end product is you can mulch growing plants and it does not burn them like Chicken squeezings.

the smaller bins are just for transport. my "compost bin" is 4 shipping pallets nailed together... so, horse hockey can be used around my plants fresh?