Posted by Store Owner on 3/22/2025 to
Worm Farming Tips
Horse Manure Is Excellent Worm Food
Be Aware Of Persistent Herbicides
One detail of importance is ensuring that the horse's diet has not contained any feedstock that has been treated with persistent herbicides. These herbicides can survive the composting process and can harm plants in your gardens. Enquire with the rancher/stable owner about the feedstocks utilized by their horses before using manure that is meant for garden use.
Fresh And Aged Manure Should Be Treated Differently When Fed To Red Wigglers
You will need to be made aware that horse manure that is fresh must be handled differently than aged manure. Fresh manure is more of a feedstock for worms, and aged manure is more of a bedding. Also, fresh manure can contain some viable weed seeds that can carry over into your garden. Therefore, it is recommended to hot compost the fresh manure for a period of time with a carbon source, like straw or pine shavings, to neutralize any weed seeds. In order to feed fresh horse manure to worms, only feed it in a strip down the middle of the bin and in a layer no more than 4 inches thick and leave the cover off your bin. This way, if any additional heat is generated, the worms have a safe zone to back off, until the material cools down to safe level for consumption. Manure does not always heat up, but it's best to take this precaution so you don't kill any of your worms. Aged manure can be fed directly, and without this caution, but be aware that there is less nutrient content for the worms to utilize, and you will need to add additional feedstocks such as plain cornmeal, fruit/veggie waste, and alfalfa pellets.
Feeding This Material Requires Different Managment Practices When Fed To Outside Compost Piles
Horse manure can be managed in a different manner if you have large outside pile. In this case, you can turn into a compost windrow. Be on the lookout for a post in the future which will cover that subject in great detail.