Using Fresh Manure

There's different opinions out there about using fresh manure in the garden. So I'd like to explore this topic a tad. I can only speak from my own experiences, so I may say things completely opposite of what you've read in some book. I think that the reason behind the differing advice is that there are too many variables to take them all into account with one chunk of gardening instructions. 

Fresh manures vary....

1... Animal species. Certain animal manures have a reputation of being "cold" and thus can be applied without composting or aging. Included in this group would be rabbit, sheep, and goat manure. Other manures are called "hot" and generally get composted or aged prior to using. On my own farm this would include donkey and chicken manure. And then there are omnivore (other than poultry) and carnivore manures, the most recognizable on the farm wood be pig. These last two types are the most controversial, not because they are hot vs cold, but because they carry a stigma. Our culture shies away from such manures. 

     I have often applied rabbit and sheep manure without composting or aging. I'll harvest the manure and use it as is, often immediately. I've never had a problem. But be aware that my animals are primarily grassfed and are not fed excess salt. That very well might have a bearing. 

     I often compost or age donkey and chicken manure. Not so much on purpose because it is "hot", but often because I have more than I need at the particular moment. The donkey manure is large lumps, so by throwing it in with the compost, it softens and breaks the lumps down. Then it's easier to use. The chicken manure is mixed in with the pen litter, which is chopped up grass and weeds. So it's already decomposing right inside the chicken pen. When I scoop up a bucket of pen litter to use, there actually isn't much really fresh chicken manure in it. It's mostly aged to some degree and decomposing already. 

    I prefer to use omnivore and carnivore manure either hot composted or else restricting it to just flower beds. Reason? Intestinal parasites. Hot composting destroys parasite eggs, if the composting is done correctly. But I find it easier to just use these type manures in the flowerbeds where they won't accidently contaminate food. I used to dig these manures into the orchard areas, and since my land doesn't flood, it was a safe enough method. But with a wwoofer now living on my land who tends to pick up and eat fruits that have fallen to the ground, I no longer feel that it is safe manuring the fruit trees that way. 

    I have not seen a problem with any of my manure applications. But then again, I don't use large volumes of it at any one time. I have had better results using frequent small feelings. So again, this is another viable that needs to be taken into consideration. 

2... What the animal is being fed. All my own livestock is grassfed. They get very little grain and no salt supplements. That's contrary to what you'll read in the books. But the system works here in Hawaii. If I were raising horses, I would be using mineral/salt supplements. But I'm not. My donkey isn't a young one needing to grow, nor is she being used for breeding or draft work. As for my sheep - if I were aiming for fast meat gains on the lambs, I would consider grain/salt supplements. Or if I were pressing my ewes to breed as often as possible. But I'm doing neither. My livestock get a tad of salt as a treat now and then. But not a daily onslaught. That's much like how hubby and I are doing it ourselves. We don't consume large amounts of daily salt either. I haven't had a saltshaker in my house for the past 15 years. We get our salt treats from our weekly restaurant outings. 

     When an animal consumes a lot of salt, the excess needs to be excreted. Manure is one outlet. I wonder if the high salt content of the manure is what contributes to the "burning" of the plants since I don't normally see plant burning from my manures, but other people report it from the manures that they use. Could the high salt content be part of the problem? I don't know, but it's something to be explored. 

3... How it is used. Digging or tilling manure into the soil gives different results that applying it on top like a mulch. And using it as a weak liquid fertilizer also gives different results. Applying in large quantity would cause differences as compared to lesser amounts. 

4... The type of soil. When I first started working with my soil, I found that plants really hyper responded to manures, especially fresh manures. They grew robustly. Then the response seem to  change, with the added manure resulting in too much nitrogen. The plants did poorer. But after a couple of years, I again saw a change in the trends. The plants did well with manures, even the  fresh stuff. Could the answer be the soil life, the increased and established soil microbes? I started out with crappy soil. It took a couple of years before the soil started to look and act robustly alive and "healthy". Now my soil is full of life of all kinds.

5... Soil moisture. Soil that dried out seemed to have problems with manures, especially fresh ones. But if I was diligent in keeping the soil moist, never letting more than the top inch or two get really dry, I saw less problems when applying manures. When I switched to keeping mulch atop the soil at all times, I stopped seeing issues with using fresh manures, at least with the way I was using them. Again, I am suspecting this has to do with robust soil life. 

6... Soil temperature. Higher or lower soil temperatures tend to effect not only soil life, but the various chemical reactions going on in the soil. It can effect the availability of nutrients. Here in Hawaii my soil temperature doesn't fluctuate wildly, which again may be part of the reason I don't see many problems with manure applications. 

So you see, there are lots of variables. There are most likely more variables that could be taken into account. I'm no soil scientist, so I just observe and learn as I go. I experiment and watch.