Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Manure Clean Up

One of the reasons for keeping large livestock is for their valuable manure. Both the sheep/goat and donkey manure gets used in the garden as fertilizer, with much of it being processed via composting. But how does it get from the pasture

I don't maintain very many large animals, currently just a small flock of sheep (10), one donkey, and 6 goats. While they have access to several areas, they tend to spend much of their time in one area. It's a favorite lounging and sleeping area, thus also a popular pooping spot. That makes gathering the manure a tad easier for me.

So, the poop has to be gathered in some fashion. While there are manure forks sized for horses, the tines are a tad far apart for picking up smaller donkey "balls". And forget using a fork in sheep & goat manure, they tend to pass nuggets the size of raisins. 

So, what to do? Hand pick up? That's backbreaking and slow. So I opt to use a pooper scooper, like what's made for dogs. But since they aren't available locally, I have my own version. 


Ace Hardware sells a brush rake in the gardening section and a dust pan on a stick in the household area. Put the two together and I have a pasture pooper scooper. No bending over. The rake gets the little nuggets. The dust pan holds just the right amount without getting to heavy. 

While I could use a five gallon bucket to hold the manure, I opt to use old feed sacks. They work fine for me. Plus they are easy to drag behind me as I clean up. No heavy bucket to carry. 

2 comments:

  1. "S" emailed:
    Many thanks for your clean up tip this morning. I've been using an 18 inch hand rake and an entrenching tool in the dog yard but the bending over was getting a bit too up close and personal so it wasn't getting done..... Never saw a "brush rake" before but I will certainly own one shortly!

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  2. "T"emailed:
    I think what you mean to say is bush rake or shrub rake.
    ......................................
    Me: Those names are fine with me too. Doesn't matter what they are called, as long as it's a small rake.

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