# how much manure does a mini make?



## friesepferd (Jan 27, 2010)

I am considering buying 2 mini donkies




. We don't have a whole lot of land and they will have to end up being in a dry paddock (not enough land to be able to rotate or keep the grass growing). I will thus have to be picking up and doing something with the manure!

I wont have farm equiiptment or a place to spread it, but I do want to start a small garden and try composting.

My question is, how much manure do 2 minis produce in a given amount of time? I'm sure mini donk vs mini horse is close enough- wont worry about that difference. During the spring/summer/fall I can use the compost on my garden / give it away to other gardeners. What about the winter time? In a 4-6 month period how big of a pile of poop will i have while composting? How big of an area will I have to make into a compost? And once its all done, how much will be left?

I want to have minis but not if I am going to have to have a 5 foot high, 10 foot wide pile of poop around all year.


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## candycar (Jan 27, 2010)

Good questions! As far as how much, my 2 B size give about a 5 gal bucket a day when I weigh their feed. About 7-8 gal when I free feed hay.

When I piled it up in a remote corner of our small 1/2 acre plot, in about 6 months the pile was approx 5ft dia X 3 ft hi. It did compost down on it's own over 9 months and now is just a bump.

If you have a garbage collector that would take it with your household trash that would be ideal. The farther away you get it from your place the better.

If you are going to compost it you would probably not use it all, and still need a way to deal with the excess. I can't help much with the composting part. I do know, if done right, it's not as easy as some would have you belive.

Hope that helps a little! Good Luck!


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## dixie_belle (Jan 28, 2010)

When I had just two, they generated a wheelbarrel full of manure every three days. That's a lot of poop. Now that I have four (how did that happen???) I simply cannot keep up. I do pick up as much as I can and put it in a large bag and the garbage man takes it away. But that was in Texas. Now that I am in Kentucky, things are different. First of all, it hasn't stopped raining since we got here 10 days ago, so things are very soggy making the bags way too heavy. I think with just two, you should be able to keep up. What you cannot use in the compost, you can simply bag and put with your weekly garbage. Plus, I find when it is dry weather, I can have a burn pile and throw poop (even fresh) on the pile and it will smolder and burn up to nothing. I've had a smudge pot like this going for over a week at a time. Each day, I would just throw that day's poop on top of the embers and it would just keep on smoking. I understand in heavy fly weather, this will help keep bugs off the horses although I couldn't swear to it.


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## Bess Kelly (Jan 28, 2010)

Post a couple little notices on community bulleting boards -- churches, grocery stores, garden centers, hardware stores, etc. -- for free manure. Any gardners you know? Etc.

If you have a spot for garden, spread it there over winter, till it in. You can do a couple patches -- one for this yr use and one for next. This way it will be working into the soil for you and a place to put it. Search "composting manure" and you will find lots of info on "how to". Yep, it's work but, can be very useful.

I have several gardeners who appreciate this contribution to their lots



Some come get it, others I take to them (only a couple special ones!). A few yrs back I had a guy who loved to garden, always more than he wanted/needed. Worked a deal -- I shoveled and he plowed -- I got the dry apples up into a container, he came and got, used and shared from his garden!!!!!!








That's the best one!


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## ropenride (Jan 28, 2010)

An easy method for composting...use wood pallets for the sides, make 2 bins, keep the "fresh" in one and when you need to "turn" the pile you can put it in the other bin, then when a pile is "done" you can raise the front pallet and take compost from the bottom of the pile. Anything in the pile is great to till into the garden in the fall so you would start the winter with empty bins. There's lots of info on composting, and some methods are REALLY fast!


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## Katiean (Jan 28, 2010)

Last year I was bagging it up (trash compactor bags fit in a small muck bucket and don't break) and put a notice on Craigs List. "Free bagged horse poop". I put it out by the road and said to come get what you need. I couldn't keep up with the demand. Most people want to give you a pick up load or don't bother me. This year I have located a place about 40 miles away from me that has you dump your poop at the top of the hill and he processes it down to the bottom of the hill and he sells compost and top soil. He takes the poop for free. It will cost me about $20 in gas but it costs about $50 plus gas to take it to the dump. Our garbage men will not take poop.


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