A horse farm owner may be clear about the fact that an adult horse produces over 8 tons of manure every year. But he doesn’t know that the manure will be worth hundreds of dollars if it is composted. Then, how to make horse dung compost and economically benefit from it? Today, we will teach you step by step.
How to Prepare Horse Manure for Compost?
Composting is the process of turning your horse manure into nutrient organic fertilizer with the help of microbial decomposition of organic materials. Usually, it takes about a month to get your well-composted manure if your compost is in aerobic conditions. However, it is not the right way to pile up your fresh horse waste and leave it to ferment, because your fresh manure has too much water that will lead to the formation of anaerobic conditions, slowing the process of composting. To create aerobic conditions for your compost pile, you need to ensure the factors, such as water content, are ideal for compost. Then, how to prepare your horse manure for composting under aerobic conditions?
Drying It With A Manure Drying Machine
The water content of fresh manure is about 75%, much higher than the ideal level (50%-60%). Water not only causes the repulsive odor from your compost, but impedes the aeration of your horse dung. Therefore, you need to find a way to reduce the water content of your fresh horse waste. On a family farm with 10 horses, it is economical to dry fresh horse manure in the sun. However, commercial horse farm owners need a more efficient method to dehydrate tons of fresh horse manure every day. Hence, they can use our industrial solid-liquid separator to dry their horse manure.
Our horse manure dewatering machine is able to automatically separator the liquid from your horse manure, lowering the water content of your raw materials to the ideal range between 40% and 50%. It is advisable that large-scale horse farm owners choose the SXTSX-1200, whose hourly capacity reaches 40 m3. Of course, we provide a wide range of models of horse manure dehydrating machines with different capacities.
Crushing It With A Compost Grinder
Some composting plants wholesale dry horse manure from middlemen, but they usually face the caking problem of their dry manure. Actually, the caking of horse manure is normal but undesirable for the process of fast composting under aerobic conditions.
In the process of composting, caked horse manure is a hindrance to the increment in the oxygen content of your compost pile, and, if hard enough, it will wear the compost turning machines. Hence, you can use our compost crushing machine, a crushing machine designed for animal manure with high water content, to grind your caked horse manure. After the step of dehydrating and crushing, your fresh horse manure is a good raw material for compost. Then, what should you do to produce compost with horse dung in aerobic conditions?
How to Make Compost with Horse Manurein Aerobic Conditions?
Stack Your Horse Manure into a Long Strip
The windrow type composting is more suitable for composting large amounts of horse manure. First, you need to stack your horse manure into a long strip within specific height and width parameters. For instance, the compost pile can be 3 m wide and 1.5 m high. When you compost large quantities of horse dung you can stack up more than one compost pile. But, please make sure that the distance between piles should be 1 m.
Create Aerobic Conditions for Your Horse Manure Compost
The formation of aerobic conditions is contingent on factors, including water content, oxygen content, C/N, and temperature of your horse manure compost. Then, what should you do to make well-composted horse manure under aerobic conditions?
As we mentioned, the ideal water content of your horse waste compost piles should be 50%-60%, or the increment of oxygen and temperature will be difficult for your compost. You can dehydrate your fresh horse manure before the process of composting. Also, leaves and straw can be mixed with your compost to reduce the water content.
During composting, water in your compost will evaporate because of the increasing heat. Hence, you need to dampen your horse manure if it is dry. Alternatively, you can cover your compost with a layer of plastic tarp to prevent a great loss of water.
C/N Ratio
In the process of composting, carbon and nitrogen provide power for bacteria to break down organic materials. An ideal C/N ratio (25-30:1)is a booster for the activities of microorganisms, accelerating the compost. Organic wastes, including sawdust, cornstalks, and soybean stems, are rich in the content of carbon. Hence, you can crush them with a straw grinder and add them when you compost horse manure.
Oxygen
The oxygen content of your horse manure should be higher than 5%, or the bacteria will be devoid of enough air to break down organic materials, lowering their activities and leading to anaerobic conditions. Then, how to increase the oxygen in your compost and realize the process of aerated composting horse manure? You need to turn your compost piles from time to time. It is quite easy to use a shovel to turn a small-size compost pile. But, You can hardly turn a commercial horse compost pile without the help of composting machines.
Temperature
In the process of composting, horse manure will generate a lot of heat, dramatically increasing the temperature of your compost. Usually, the temperature will gradually climb within 24h and reach 155 ºF after 2 or 3 days. Indeed, high temperatures ( above 140ºF ) can eliminate all harmful materials in your compost. However, it can do that to microorganisms too, when it is over 150 ºF. Hence, you need to prevent your horse manure compost from overheating.
Is There a Machine to Help Compost Horse Manureon a Large Scale?
Yes, there is it. As a supplier of composting machines, we provide various types of horse manure composting machines. We suggest our client use industrial horse manure composting machines when they ask how to compost large amounts of horse manure.
· Commercial Machines to Compost Horse Manure ·
Our large horse manure compost machines are an ideal option for those who adopt the method of windrow type composting. Operated by a skillful driver, it can use its turning teeth to completely turn your compost pile. Turned horse dung will form a neat compost pile, with sufficient fresh air for microorganisms to consume.
How Long Does It Take to Compost Horse Manure if You Use Our Commercial Composting Machine?
It takes about 20 days if you use our crawler type compost turner to turn your compost pile. Our commercial horse manure composting machine is able to easily aerate your compost and create aerobic conditions for your horse manure to ferment. Thus, you can make horse manure compost faster.
5 Functions of our Crawler Type Compost Turner to Facilitate You in Speeding Up Composting.
Problems You May Have in the Process of Composting Horse Manure
The temperature of my horse compost increases slowly in the first week. Why?
There are 5 reasons causing the slow growth of temperature.
- The water content of your horse manure is too high/low. It should be within the range between 45% to 55%.
- Your compost lacks enough nitrogen. Hence, you can add straw and sawdust to your compost piles.
- The volume of your compost is small. You can stack more horse manure into a long strip. If you don’t have too much horse manure, you should try to increase the height of your compost.
- The weather is cold outside. You can try groove type composting that requires an indoor groove for composting. Alternatively, you can choose to use our vertical fermentation tank to compost your horse manure, because it composts organic materials in a closed tank that minimizes the influence from the outside.
- The pH of your compost is below the ideal level. When it is lower than 5.5, you need to add lime to your horse manure, to maintain the pH balance of your compost.
There is stink, like rotten eggs, from my horse manure compost.
- The C/N is lower than 20. Peanut shells and rice husks are good materials to increase the amount of carbon in your horse waste compost.
- Your compost needs to be aerated. An anaerobic condition is created when there is a lack of enough oxygen in your compost. Hence, you need to regularly turn your horse manure compost piles to aerate them, providing more oxygen for microorganisms to break down.
Is it normal that my horse manure compost has a swarm of maggots?
No, it isn’t. You must have left your horse manure compost for a long time without turning it, so the smelly odor it gives off attracts flies to lay eggs on it. You need to kill these maggots first and turn your horse manure in time. What’s more, please do not stack fresh horse manure in your compost, or soon you will hear a drone of flies hovering above it.
My horse waste compost cake. What should I do?
Generally, well-composted horse manure is power, like soil. The caking of your horse waste is the result of fewer times of turning compost. In general, your compost piles, even in huge pieces, will be crushed into small powder when you use our industrial composters to turn them.
My horse manure has white mold in the process of composting
Don’t worry. That white material, like a spider web, is not mold, actually. It is Actinomycetes, a kind of bacteria growing in your compost. In the process of composting, they form and extend down through your manure compost as the temperature of the compost rises. In fact, their formation is a sign indicating the success of your horse manure composting.
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To Have A Commercial Compost Making Machine To Make Horse Manure Compost