The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Horses, ponies, donkeys & mules => Topic started by: trefnantbach on April 09, 2010, 09:24:38 pm
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We're new to horses and a bit lost how to dispose of all the spent shavings from the stable. After trying a deep bed we've decided to opt for rubber matting and a thin layer of shavings - but what do people do with the spent shavings? It seems to take a long time to decompose and it mounts up. I've decided to use some of it as mulch on the flower borders. Is there a market for it if I bag it up and advertise it as horticultural mulch? - any comments welcomed
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Shavings generally make a poor mulch if they aren't rotted down as they pull the nitrogen out of the soil.
I use Hemcore, which is the core of the hemp plant and a byproduct of paper making, in the same way as you are using shavings, and it rots down in 6-8 weeks into pretty nice compost.
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Gardeners tend to not want shavings in the manure for gardens. Shavings do rot down eventually, but take ages. Straw heaps do take up much more room, but are more attractive to people wanting manure for their gardens etc. Hempcore, like Rosemary said rots down and goes into a good compost as do one or two others - Bliss is one that springs to mind. When I get a big heap of shavings, I put it under the row of confer trees and leave it to rot down in its own time!!
If you are using rubber matting, you will certainly not need a lot of shavings, so should not have a major problem of a big muck heap. The best thing to do, is just put a little pile of shavings in one corner.
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I use shavings and just put a notice on the gate inviting people to fill bags, we save the feed bags for them. and have had no problem
getting rid of it, I just warn them that it is fresh so to keep it for a while or put in the bottom of tubs and beds.
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Thanks for comments - My idea is to use it as a mulch to keep down weeds and conserve moisture on the surface of flower beds and borders. In that situation it is a good thing that it does not decompose too fast. I bought bags of chipped bark in the past and spread it on the soil between heather plants It lasted 3-4 years! I thought the wood shavings from the stable would do the same. Most of the poo is forked out of it daily but it becomes saturated in urine - the urea and ammonia in it would nitrify in contact with the soil and provide the plants with a readily available source of nitrates! that's the theory anyway.
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Can you imagine what they do with the shavings from a million ducks? ??? :farmer:
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Probably Incinerate it ???
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Sorry Cameron Let me explain The growers are brought in to the huts and fed ad lib water and balanced rations to Dr Knotts spec; If of course he is still there I have not been to the office complex for the ages of a crow The feed is milled and mixed off site Back to the shed Shavings are mixed with straw and spread each side the feed stages and are bedded every day for 49 days the ducks are now as large as the company wants and they are collected and transported to the factory where they are stunned and defeather ed ready for further processing.Meanwhile at the hut a cleaning gang arrives and takes out all the shavings and straw using Bobcat skid steer forks and trailers which take the waste to giant muck hills Where it is allowed to decompose A different gang arrives and pressure washes and disinfects the whole shed The shed is re bedded and the drinkers refitted having been pressure washed and rehung Food is filled to the food conveyor and the next lot of ducks brought up from the nursery.The time passes and big muck spreaders take the oldest part of the muck hill to spread it on the fields ready to be ploughed in.What I meant Cameron can you imagine the heap they are like aircraft hangers enormous on the Rocket Site behind High Field Farm You can see them if you drive down Kelsey Moor Road
I haven't been lately so they may be tipping elsewhere if the Rocket Site is full At one time they were pushing the waste up into great heaps with a Bull dozer
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We have a mahoosive manure heap, that s a mixture of shavings, straw, spilt hay ;)
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shavings and straw using Bobcat skid steer forks and trailers which take the waste to giant muck hills
:o :o
i feel sorry for anyone down wind, yeauch :notwell:
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Our horses all live out, so we dont use any bedding for them. But the lamb pens have hemp under the straw and that is put in the compost bins and rots down really quickly. The straw I actually burn with one of those garden incinerators which i then but the ash onto the compost. I am only talking about small quantities, but that works for me.
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I use straw so my local farmer takes away my muck heap once a year, he would not take it if I used shavings :)
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Our ponies are out 24/7 so don't have any bedding in our Everest muck heap just just poo and waste hay, I keep advertising it on Freecycle and get a few takers not as many as say they want the muck though (http://www.cosgan.de/images/midi/konfus/c045.gif)
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A nice pile of that left in a corner of the garden should be really good stuff next year :D Daisy
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It is wonderful stuff Wizzard we just have far too much to use ::)
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I'm going to try planting squashes and pumpkins in my muck heap this year (straw/hay/dung) as I read somewhere that pumpkins adore it! apparently you just dig a hole and pop in the plant when it's a reasonable size with just the compost from it's pot...and some months later you have a fab veggie!!!
our horses only stay in during the winter months,, so this is ideal for us. might be useful?
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Oh I might give that a try egglady, oh just thought that won't work as the :sheep: will have access to them doh :dunce:
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we use miscanthus, rots down quickly!! Shavings were a nightmare , we still have the manure heaps from when we use shavings from 4 yrs ago!!
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The Vegatable Marrow Green Bush likes to grow on the muck hill used to do some every year and Gardeners Delight Tomato They need a stick to hold them up though egglady ;D :farmer:
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The Vegatable Marrow Green Bush likes to grow on the muck hill used to do some every year and Gardeners Delight Tomato They need a stick to hold them up though egglady ;D :farmer:
oh, never thought to do tomatoes - thanks wizard, think i'll give that a go. do you think ailsa craig would aslso grow well on the muck heap?
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Hello lass not heard of it being done! I no doubt have jumped to onions and you mean tomatoes thats what becomes of being 3 score and 10 + Cannot see why not.The reason I always go on about Gardeners Delight is they are so universal nice and small .They eat well off the plant when I walk past and pull one,they eat well in a salad,they fry well if you leave them in a dish to go over a little and they bottle well in jars in the pressure cooker and store real good with an excellent flavour.Just a little something of nothing egglady I have never had much success with Beefsteak varieties they are always dry and woody to me. :D ;D yum yum :farmer:
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we are experimenting with using used shavings for mulching as we can get it easily from horsey friends. its rotting down in the our woods until next spring then we will apply it as mulch to the flower beds and fruit beds.
I think I might try the squashes and courgettes in the heap this year and see what happens. although the heap is in dappled shade and can be attacked by grey squirels it might work.