The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Tracy mayoh on July 23, 2017, 11:46:54 am
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Advise please .... what's the best way to deal with sheep poo got 4 pet sheep on an acre of land
What's best recommendations for dealing/managing their manure???
Ideas advice please
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Sheep droppings which fall on grass as they graze are quickly broken down by rain, insects, birds (including domestic poultry) then they are taken down into the soil by earthworms. At that point their nutrients are released to the soil, to help the grass grow better next year.
If the manure is building up in certain places, such as around their hay feeder, or where they sleep, then periodically clear it away, stack it for a year, and use it on the veg garden. If there's not much, then add it to the compost heap.
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Ok cheer but as it's only an acre I was worried it would encourage fly strike if poo was all over land
What sort of composting method would you use would you just stock pile it and cover it or put it in a bin with lid on???
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By far the best thing you can do is to divide your paddock into 4 equal ones and rotate it every week. That way grass is better grazed, has more time to recover, poo has enough time to break down and parasites should die off before they find a new host (or rather come back to the original host through the other end)
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Ok cheer but as it's only an acre I was worried it would encourage fly strike if poo was all over land
What sort of composting method would you use would you just stock pile it and cover it or put it in a bin with lid on???
If you feel you must gather it - although as mentioned above, it's not necessary - then add some water and pour it on your tomatoes or flowers. It is high in potash and an ideal fertiliser. Or else just leave it in a pile till you need it.
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Ok cheer but as it's only an acre I was worried it would encourage fly strike if poo was all over land
What sort of composting method would you use would you just stock pile it and cover it or put it in a bin with lid on???
If it's wet when you stack it, then cover with a tarpaulin or a lid. If it's dry, leave to the elements to get a soaking - but if you have poultry they'll scratch it all over the place.
We use sheep manure from the field shelters, which we clean out periodically - it's supposed to be once a year, but every day is a busy day, so it doesn't always happen. The shelters have straw added as needed, and throughout lambing, and this straw is wetted with urine by the sheep. This makes a perfect , well balanced mix, ready to rot down, or ready to use on some crops such as fruit bushes and trees, potatoes and so on.
With just 4 sheep, I doubt you would have enough droppings to fill a compost box so probably best just to add it to your normal compost heap.
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We have a small flock of Soay on a couple of acres.
We never have a problem with poo building up, even in or around their field shelters.
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This year for some reason we have suffered from a similar problem to the original poster. Other years its just disappeared naturally. But this year it hasn't! Not sure why, but we have had long spells of very hot weather, then a few days of rain, and it seems almost liked its baked hard! Anyway, this is the first year we have had a problem. Our solution on 3 acres is the lawnmower tractor. Its a Westwood with a powered grass collector. So I drive it sweeping the poo into the collector and pile it up for later use. Anyway, thats our solution, but it is hopefully a problem we won't have again!