Sheep Manure

[rswyan]

A neighbor raises show sheep and has a big pile of manure outside his barn which I can probably have for hauling it off. I was thinking of incorporating it into the garden this fall. The question is, is there any risk of disease (scrapie) if I do so.

The reason why I ask is that the neighbor has been sick over the last year or two ..... been to multiple doctors, big name hospital here locally, seen a bunch of specialists, had a number of operations ..... and they are all pretty much coming with zero - all except the last one didn't have a clue what was ailing him .....

The last medico decided that it was the fact that the guy was burning wood to heat his home. The neighbor quit burning over a year ago and is still sick .......

Thoughts ?

 

[Highbeam]

That last doctor was grasping at straws is my first thought.

The well decomposed sheep manure should be safe for incorporation in the soil. I would not hesitate to use it. Heck, we use "people" manure here in the NW.

 

[billbill1]

I've heard that sheep poop is some of the best you can possibly use. I used it several years ago with great results, it doesn't burn the plants like cattle crap. I'd take it if available and put it on thick this fall, let it compost in.

 

[PineRidge]

Never used it myself but I'm betting that if you till it in this fall that you'll have no problems at all.

And if you would rather have composted horse manure let me know via a PM. I have a very close neighbor that we got 20 dump truck loads from last fall and we expect to do the same this fall. The manure has improved our garden plot by 100%.

We pay for the use of the dump truck only, the manure is a gimmie, and John is willing to load it using his TN to boot.

 

[rswyan]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yeah, I think grasping at straws is a good characterization of what is happening (no idea of the actual cause ... well just invent one !)

I will get ahold of the neighbor tommorrow and see about hauling it off - there is quite a bit of it .... will probably take me at least 10 trips with the 4' x 8' dump cart.

Mike - I did scope out your garden's soil fairly closely when I was at the party - it looks really, really good. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I could see the darker organic matter mixed in very finely with the original soil - your veggies are loving it I'm sure.

And thanks for the offer .... I may indeed take ya up on it - can never have too much poop ..... oh wait .... that was something else. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[sassafraspete]

We are passionate about our manure. Get what you can and incorporate it this fall. My neighbor brought me 4 large dumptruck loads of cow manure this spring (3 yr old), from a dairy operation. Since it was aged, it did not burn any of my crops. This was a combination of mostly sand and manure. It has been the single best thing I have done for the garden . Downside, you do incorporate some weed seeds, but mine are easy to pull. I added a section onto one of my garden spots and it didn't get the manure.... I can tell night and day difference between the 2. Things are half the height. Things may grow too well for you. My tomatoes are now growing above my 5 foot cages. Pumpkins are going crazy. Beans are amazing, and kale is 3 1/2 ' high now. Go for it.

sassafraspete

 

[Egon]

A site with some information on manure.



There are some interesting facts expressed here.

By the way The Sheep Manure is one of the best for potasiun content. Couldn't find the table which had the qualities of different animal manures.

web page

Egon

 

[rockinmywaypa]

rswyan tell your neighbor to check out and eliminate the possibility that he has Q-fever. most doctors wouldn't think to check it out because they don't know that he raises sheep.

 

[rswyan]

pete,

Yeah, I'm willing to make the trade of better soil for a few more weeds - and having things grow too well is a risk I'm willing to take /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It's really amazing how much difference good soil can make. The soil where I have the garden is fairly decent in my estimation, but it could always be better.

 

[rswyan]

Egon,

Thanks for the link - great stuff. Certainly makes me want to take appropriate precautions (like at least wearing a dust mask when I load and dump manure)

I think the majority of what's up there is probably has been sitting there for quite awhile and is composted .... hopefully it's separated or piled according to age.

Reading the link, it looks like if I'm going to store it on my property until I spread it, it would probably be a good idea to locate the storage pile in a location where there is the least liklihood of contaminating any growing produce - ie. far enough away that airborne contamination is unlikely and downslope so that runoff isn't a problem. Fortunately my garden is not in the drainage of where he piles it on his property.

Even though my garden is right next to the pastiure, the sheep don't come down to that end anymore ... up until a few days ago when another neighbor cut it, the grass at this end was over 3' tall ... so I should be safe from that angle.

 

[rswyan]

rockin'

I printed out the CDC page on Q-fever and will take it with me when I got to visit the neighbor in the next couple days. Thanks much !

 

[gsganzer]

I thought I'd pass this along FWIW. My 80 year old neighbor told me that sheep manure is sterile for weed seeds, unlike cow or horse manure. It has something to do with the digestive tract of sheep.

He also told me that the sterile manure was part of the reason for the "cattle/sheep wars" on the old frontier. Not only did the sheep graze the grass much shorter, but there was limited reseeding of the sheep grazed areas due to the sterile droppings.

 

[rswyan]

gs,

Very interesting - be real nice if that turns out to be accurate. The less weeds the better. The pile has weeds growing all over it but I'd imagine that that they could be from windblown seed.

I went up today and picked up three heaping trailers of sheep manure - probably 10K or 12 K lbs. The manure is four years old - it was from the first time they cleaned out the barn after he brought the sheep in .... and he wasn't sure how he was going to get rid of it, so they just piled it outside. He's since been having a local landscaping place come in and clean out the barn once per year and truck off the manure to their operation - they were supposed to haul this stuff off but never got around to it.

My neighbor thought the entire pile would be very dry .... and it was on the outside - the inside wasn't though ..... it was extremely wet, very stinky, and had a pretty strong ammonia smell to it. There's probably another 10 loads up there ..... I'll be going back tommorrow, if it isn't raining, for more.

 

[PineRidge]

Randy you'll be surprised how fast that manure changes your plot once it's tilled in. You'll have nice veggies next year. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[seapea]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( That last doctor was grasping at straws is my first thought.)</font>
He might have been just been hoping the placebo affect would solve the problem. Some ailments are all in your head. Even those that aren't can be "cured" with the placebo affect. Just thinking that the problem has been solved changes how you feel, and when you feel better mentally, you are actually healthier and better able to fight diseases.

My wife had streppe once. Her first test came out negative. After 3 more days of 102/103 fever and getting rather depressed, I took her to the doctor again. The doctor (a different one) said she didn't need another test and could tell she had steppe based on her symptoms. She gave her an prescription for an antibiotic. My wife almost felt cured just having the prescription in hand because she knew her misery would end soon. In this case she really was sick, but just knowing that a cure was on it's way made her feel much better.

I guess this is a bit OT. Back to sheep poo. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rswyan]

Mike,

I'm sure it will make a world of difference in the tilth of the soil ..... I'm really looking forward to it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The dirt is (field) topsoil ..... kinda loamy with a good bit of clay in it ..... but I think it's lacking in organic matter ........ although when I opened it up this spring it had quite a strong smell to it .... almost a bit of a stink .. the wife smelled it and thought it was either septic or the sheep (I don't think it's either - there's no septic drainage into these areas and the sheep no longer come back to this end of the neighbor's property) I've smelled it over the last year in other places around the property where I've been digging and noticed the same smell ..... it's interesting ....... don't ever remember noticing it before (and I grew up here)

Everything is really taking off in the last week or two ..... think hitting the plants with the Miracle Grow is starting to kick in. And the corn is looking real nice /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've gotten some zuchinni, cukes, and a couple of yellow crooknecks in the past several days.

The rain this afternoon will really help .... you should have got a good dumping .... it was heading right for your place from here. We got a huge soaking .... probably lasted 1/2 and hour ..... a real gully washer ........ the ground was so dry it didn't even run on the law ....... I got stuck out in the shed and was watching it from the doorway .... the lawn just sucked it up completely.

 

[rswyan]

seapea,

I think there is alot of truth in what you are saying ... dunno if it's applicable in my neighbor's case or not .... but for many, not all maladies are physical in nature. Unfortunately the medicos aren't quite as good with this end of things as they are with fixing a broken bone or suturing up a cut.