Thursday, February 14, 2008
Manure Management
Implementation of a manure management plan is crucial for horses kept outdoors. The pasture is a natural grazing environment for your horse. It is an ecosystem offering fresh air, nutrition, opportunity to be with other horses and space to exercise. If properly managed, even a pasture of small acreage will decrease overall cost of feed and provide much enjoyment for your horse.
It is important that pasture where your horse is kept is free of hazards that can lead to injury and is maintained to minimize the buildup of manure. An adult horse weights in excess of 1000 pounds and will produce an average of 40 pounds of feces and 2.5 gallons of urine a day. Without proper measures in place, there is increased risk of soil and water pollution which poses health problems for your horse and raises public health issues regarding the safety of drinking water.
Unless you keep your horse on land that you own or lease, you should know the type of waste management procedures used at the boarding facility. As a responsible horse owner, you want to ensure manure is stored and disposed of within the constraints of environmental regulations. For many small operation, composting is a viable solution that falls within the realm of best practices for manure management.
Composting involves the process of decomposing manure and other waste. Organic material including straw, grass, leaves and household waste are added to manure to construct the compost pile. The actions of microorganisms convert these materials into a soil-like material known as compost.
Composting piles can be constructed using a free-standing approach where the pile is built by adding manure on top of previously added manure. The pile should grow large enough to maintain an internal temperature of 60 to 65 degrees to ensure that parasites and weed seeds are killed. The pile should be turned on a regular basis to thoroughly mix and aerate its contents which brings the outer materials internally so the entire pile is exposed to a critical temperature range. A pile that gets too hot (over 70 C degrees), can emit an ammonia-like odor; if it is not hot enough, parasite eggs and weed seeds may survive. Depending on the size of the compost pile, a complete decomposition process can take 30 to 90 days to complete.
An effective waste management plan will provide many benefits:
Implementation of a manure management plan is crucial for horses kept outdoors. The pasture is a natural grazing environment for your horse. It is an ecosystem offering fresh air, nutrition, opportunity to be with other horses and space to exercise. If properly managed, even a pasture of small acreage will decrease overall cost of feed and provide much enjoyment for your horse.
It is important that pasture where your horse is kept is free of hazards that can lead to injury and is maintained to minimize the buildup of manure. An adult horse weights in excess of 1000 pounds and will produce an average of 40 pounds of feces and 2.5 gallons of urine a day. Without proper measures in place, there is increased risk of soil and water pollution which poses health problems for your horse and raises public health issues regarding the safety of drinking water.
Unless you keep your horse on land that you own or lease, you should know the type of waste management procedures used at the boarding facility. As a responsible horse owner, you want to ensure manure is stored and disposed of within the constraints of environmental regulations. For many small operation, composting is a viable solution that falls within the realm of best practices for manure management.
Composting involves the process of decomposing manure and other waste. Organic material including straw, grass, leaves and household waste are added to manure to construct the compost pile. The actions of microorganisms convert these materials into a soil-like material known as compost.
Composting piles can be constructed using a free-standing approach where the pile is built by adding manure on top of previously added manure. The pile should grow large enough to maintain an internal temperature of 60 to 65 degrees to ensure that parasites and weed seeds are killed. The pile should be turned on a regular basis to thoroughly mix and aerate its contents which brings the outer materials internally so the entire pile is exposed to a critical temperature range. A pile that gets too hot (over 70 C degrees), can emit an ammonia-like odor; if it is not hot enough, parasite eggs and weed seeds may survive. Depending on the size of the compost pile, a complete decomposition process can take 30 to 90 days to complete.
An effective waste management plan will provide many benefits:
- it will greatly reduce the volume of manure in the pasture, which will in turn, reduce odor and provide a healthier environment for your horse;
- compose can be used to add organic nutrients to the soil which will improve the fertility of the soil which will result in improved grass production in the pasture;
- it will can reduce the risk of ground and surface water contamination from runoff;
- it will reduce the attraction of flies, parasites and bacterial and can pose the risk of infection to your horse.
Knowing how manure is handled is another consideration for being proactive in the care of your horse. It is another factor that can give you peace of mind in knowing your horse is in a safe and healthy environment.
Labels: Caring for Horses
¶ 8:24 AM
