Poop everywhere!

[freechicken]

Well, we are relatively new to animal keeping and currently have three dairy goats, five rabbits, and laying hens plus two sets of chicks. I have loads and loads of manure and I was wondering what others do with it all? I know the rabbits' is safe to go directly into the garden, but the soiled straw from the goat stall (concrete floor in there) and the soiled shavings from the coops... I started a couple of piles but they seem to be growing faster than they are decomposing. Help!

 

[AshleyFishy]

Well composting is effective for small amounts. You may consider using a different bedding type. Maybe a low dust saw dust type or sand.

Also depending on your area you may offer it for free on craigslist, try burning it etc.

 

[bonbean01]

Each year do a separate compost pile...when you want it on your garden, go for the oldest. And yeah..critters do poop a lot!

 

[Bossroo]

I spread out the poop out into the pasture, then after it rains the grass really GROWS. Great fertilizer and it is free !

 

[bubba1358]

I toss my cow's day-old manure into the pig pen. They work it into the soil while rooting which really increases the amount of organic matter. The area later becomes a garden.

 

[elbesta]

I make raised beds 3' by 24' , 2 beds 4' apart fill with fresh or old bedding and poop add top soil about 6" or finished compost. I use cattle panels and make hoop houses over them. You can plant in them right away. Then in the late fall you can add more and till it in and it will be ready to plant in the spring. I use chicken and goat poop. And yes there is a lot of it. And the vegies love it.

 

[goatboy1973]

I sell our goat manure for $5 a 100lb feed sack full or $25/ tractor scoop full. Our county mayor is a new customer as he puts it on his garden and swears by it. This is one way to turn a byproduct into a few bucks.

 

[goatboy1973]

Last year we had so much excess goat/ llama manure piles up composting that we had enough to cover the entire garden. We then tilled the garden and WOW!!!

 

[Wispy55]

We are located in New Brunswick Canada and most of the province is peat. So instead of buying soil, we make it. We pick an area that needs to be levelled out and dump most of our manure from goats, rabbits and chickens in one spot. By the start of summer we can rake and level what is left. We take the hay droppings and stall bedding from the goats and lay it out for the chickens in their run. Then a couple of days later we rake up everything, goat and chicken s... And dump on the spot we set out. The fines out of the bottom of the goat hay feeders is cleaned out and feed to the rabbits. The rabbit droppings are caught on a screen under their cages so we can save it for the garden or dump on the spot. It has saved us hundreds of dollars in costs for soil. Everyone here buys their soil for their gardens by the bag. So much plastic!

 

[Wispy55]

Another thing to try is using wood pellets under shavings or straw. We find we only have to change the layer of pellets two maybe three times a year. They absorb so much more than anything we have tried. The goat berries seem to fall through them and stay separated. We then cover the pellets with shavings or straw which ever is the cheapest at the time. This year there is no straw available as we had so dry a summer. We try to find mixed pellets but will use hardwood too. Since the pellets are compressed sawdust they seem to take quite a bit of moisture before they are saturated.
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