View Full Version : Cow Chips...
CValentine
08-15-2009, 09:59 PM
Ok...today while out on the range looking for a spot to fish...
I noticed all the very dry cow patties everywhere.
You can kick them & they move - light as nothing, look like ash.
I ask you, is manure this dry good for the garden?
Does it need to be 'reconstituted'? :ha:
Is there a particular percentage of soil/compost to dry manure mixture that is 'just perfect'?
Thanks for your help! :) ~Cheryl
Richard
08-15-2009, 10:14 PM
The dry stuff you are looking contains a variety of nutrients depending upon how old it is. After it dries, a season's worth of rain can wash out minerals leaving fiber and little else. But if it is from earlier this year, then:
Dry, composted cow manure NPK ~= 0.2% - 0.1% - 0.2%
Dry, composted steer manure NPK ~= 0.7% - 0.3% - 0.4%
If the animals were raised on antibiotics, etc. those also might be present.
Obviously you wouldn't feed a fruit tree soley with composted cow manure, but these numbers might help you scale the amount you use:
1 year dose for fruit tree with composted cow manure ~= 10.5 cubic feet
1 year dose for fruit tree with composted steer manure ~= 3.5 cubic feet.
Wish I had access to that much. If nothing else you could mix with grass cuttings etc. and make a compost pile out of them. The organic matter alone is worth it for soil friability and everything you do for your garden soil , even if it helps only 1% has to add up.
If they're flat enough they'd make a really funny frisbee!
Wish I had access to that much. If nothing else you could mix with grass cuttings etc. and make a compost pile out of them. The organic matter alone is worth it for soil friability and everything you do for your garden soil , even if it helps only 1% has to add up.
If they're flat enough they'd make a really funny frisbee!
Soil conditioning is the real value of organic matter--changing the aerabliltiy, drainage, exchange capacity, moisture retention and friability.
PS--as a kid I remember having wars with those cow chips!
bencelest
08-17-2009, 10:18 AM
PS--as a kid I remember having wars with those cow chips!
Sbl:
What do you mean sbl. It got me curious. I know as a kid I've done so many things like ride a carabao so unknown to my kids now.
Patty in Wisc
08-17-2009, 11:35 AM
Oh, the old cow pies. Benny, you find a nice "cow pie" (flat dried poop) & throw it at your friend in friendly war or throw it like a frisbee to see how far it can go. They look like a dried piece of old mudd.
I'd put them in my garden.
Benny, like Patty said we used to have "friendly" wars with the dried cow patties--they are relatively light and crumble on impact, but occasionally the "friendly" nature of the battle would degrade when someone used a cow patty that wasn't properly cured--a little sticky on the inside--things could go downhill from there!
hammer
08-17-2009, 01:28 PM
I use horse chips i dont even pick it up the horse farmers bring the chips in a dump truck they are happy to get rid of it out of there barnes they load it and bring it to me.
So many people are afraid or unwilling to ask farmers for their "waste". Here in NJ we have more horses in relation to people than any other state.........don't believe it, just do a check. If you have an open bed pick-up most will even load it for you. So much free organic matter and so little time!
Bob and Hammer, you are lucky, I had to drive over 50 miles and load it myself.
CValentine
08-17-2009, 07:32 PM
They are 'Free-range' cows...LOL!!!
Grass fed. Some are Mama's & some are steers.
Thank you for the breakdown on the manure Richard!!!
'Oh let the chips fall, let them fall where they may...' :0517:
:D ~Cheryl
aupoet
08-17-2009, 07:54 PM
You definitely need to put them through a heat by composting them. They will full of weed seeds otherwise. Cows eat lots of things besides grass.
You definitely need to put them through a heat by composting them. They will full of weed seeds otherwise. Cows eat lots of things besides grass.
And Horses!
You definitely need to put them through a heat by composting them. They will full of weed seeds otherwise. Cows eat lots of things besides grass.
And horses!
Richard
08-18-2009, 10:36 AM
They are 'Free-range' cows...LOL!!!
A free-range herd often receives the same or larger dosages of antibiotics and hormones than the stable-grown variety.
Patty in Wisc
08-18-2009, 02:06 PM
Dry, composted cow manure NPK ~= 0.2% - 0.1% - 0.2%
Dry, composted steer manure NPK ~= 0.7% - 0.3% - 0.4%
If the animals were raised on antibiotics, etc. those also might be present.
Obviously you wouldn't feed a fruit tree soley with composted cow manure, but these numbers might help you scale the amount you use:
1 year dose for fruit tree with composted cow manure ~= 10.5 cubic feet
1 year dose for fruit tree with composted steer manure ~= 3.5 cubic feet.
Farmers around here say they don't know of a diff between "cow & steer" manure. Does this mean there is a diff between male & female horse poop?
Next weekend I will ask some farmers about how much antibiotics they give - & when. I do know that they worm them (horses & I'm sure cows too) but the farmers say it does not affect the manure in our garden.
Does this mean there is a diff between male & female human poop? And, why?
I'm just guessing Patty, but my guess is that the data really are comparing grass fed cows and feed lot "steers". It is probably that the feed lot steers just get a more nutritious diet and less fiber--making the manure a little richer in nutrients.
Patty in Wisc
08-24-2009, 11:46 AM
Dry, composted cow manure NPK ~= 0.2% - 0.1% - 0.2%
Dry, composted steer manure NPK ~= 0.7% - 0.3% - 0.4%
If the animals were raised on antibiotics, etc. those also might be present.
I hate it when people feel they have to say something -whether it's right or wrong - just make things up. Cows (& animals) ARE NOT "RAISED ON ANTIBIOTICS"!!!! I asked a farmer who raised cattle (cows & steers) for over 50 years, if this was true & he said they only got antibiotics if they were sick, which wasn't often, & then they were kept seperate from the others. He said as far as he knows, there is no diff between cow & steer manure UNLESS THEY WERE FED DIFFERENTLY (as SBL said). He DID NOT pump them up with hormones either. I asked if he used pesticides - NOPE. Only weed killer around the edges of his fields where there was thistle. Cows did not go there.
I like facts...not someone's false assumptions. Ya know, there are 3 words in ASSUME!
Don't be discouraged from using cow or horse manure. Cow (& steer) manure is what they use in the corn fields here...ONLY that. Speaking of corn, we just got 4 bushels of free sweet corn picked yesterday am, so I spent the day blanching & freezing a bunch. All the husks & cobs are in my compost bin.
hammer
08-24-2009, 11:59 AM
Patty i also use horse manura i spoke to a farmer he does not use antibiotics unless the horse has benn injuerd i thind whats in are food is awfull steeroids are in chicken beef and pork where grown in mass production as for small farmers do not use steroids.
CValentine
08-24-2009, 12:03 PM
Went out for more chips this week-end...
What clean crap! :D These cattle are range fed & I do not know the level of (health)treatment of these animals.
The difference that the composted manure is making in my plants shows though!
Taking a look at the biochar too. Good thread on it here on the Org.
I'll make all the difference I can in my plants & what I feed my family!!:) ~Cheryl
hammer
08-24-2009, 12:31 PM
I use horse manure on all of my bananas and they love it ive put 4 truck loads this summer and plan to use more next summer i do not compost it it is some clean crap.
Patty in Wisc
08-25-2009, 01:37 PM
My fiance's (where I spend half my time) neighbor has a few horses & this spring I asked if I could have some of the poop, so he brought a big load - partially composted, over & dumped it in the garden there. He worms his horses & 2 donkeys - like we take care of our pets, but it has NO bad effect on my garden which is growing gangbusters. Animals ARE NOT RAISED ON ANTIBIOTICS!! grrr
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2020, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.