[Benandbill]

Got my first ever coming tomorrow.  Very excited!!  Don't know what state it's gonna be in yet, whether fresh or fully rotted but I've cleared plenty of space for it so if it's fresh there's plenty of time for it to rot down over winter and if it's well rotted then I can dig it all in ready I guess?  I think it's horse!

Anybody know of any advantages of horse over cow or vice versa?

[AndyRVTR]

Hello Benandbill.... When I used to live out in the 'sticks' all I ever got delivered was cow muck, mainly because at the time thats all that was available being surrounded by farms with lots of beasts on them.
Since I moved to the 'town', all I can get is horse muck and the year before last was the first time I used it.... never again!!  I had all sorts growing around the plot, corn, wheat, oats and god knows what else.
Apparently, horses dont digest whet they get fed, so they tend to have lots of seeds in their poop  , whereas cow muck is mainly made up of grass that the beast eat from the fields plus hay and pellets that they are fed with...
I would always use cow muck if I had the choice, but last year I only used chicken manure pellets and had a good year..... I hope this helps.  

[Goldfinger]

Horses are greedy big/little B******s!! They'll wolf their food down - not chewing properly etc. 

I'm staying away from the stuff.

Cows however, brill' muck making machines! 3 stomachs (IIRC), and then go on to 'chew the cud' (re-eat it).

Cow muck - Black gold in my book! 

[Yorkie]

Some basic info here about the NPK
http://www.allotment-garden.org/fertilizer/npk-manures-compost.php

[Benandbill]

Thank you peeps!  Some v/useful insight here which will be borne in mind 

[Growster...]

Surely a good several months to rot down, will get rid of the seeds won't they?

The stable  manure (30 odd bags) we collected and stored in April, eventually reduced in bulk by about 50%, and when I poked around under the lid of the enclosed heap I'd kept it in, the texture was uniform, dark brown, and with no recognizable seeds in it - as far as I could see anyway...

It actually smelt quite pleasant too!

[doubledug]

I have to agree about weeds due to horse manure, after spreading about five tons of well rotted stuff on my plot last year my variety of weeds has increased. They are all very healthy though.

[stompy]

Well i have just this very minute come back from my plot after waiting 1 1/2 hrs for my manure delivery, and it was a no show 

I rang them and they told me they had forgotten 
He did appologise profusely though and offered to drop it free of charge tomorrow which i turned down.
It will be delivered now on the 6th November instead and he told me to call him the Friday before. 

[Benandbill]

Sorry to hear that stompy, hopefully the produce will be good quality when it eventually does arrive and more than make up for the delay.  Maybe they'll give it to you at a discounted price as well?

Anyway, mine's arrived.  Just before 9am this morning.  Took me 3 hours to get nearly all of it from where it was dumped onto my plot.  Have some blisters and aching limbs but I know it's gonna be worth it.  Am delighted to say after reading all the above that it's cow dung after all!    It does seem quite fresh, didn't smell much though, only the odd woft when the sun was on it or the fork went in and it was actualy rather a sweet smell which surprised me.

I've only got in about 40 mins ago so it was almost a full day wot with the occasional scive and slurp of apple juice.  It's spread too thick on one of the beds and almost one whole bed with none on, so there's still a bit of dispersing, forking and barrowing to do - but that can wait.  All in all, I'm pretty chuffed!!   

[rowlandwells]

 I've been using horse manure for some time now on the Lottie had no problem with using this manure spread it on top of the raspberry patch on the union and  r/bean plots
brassicas infant all over the Lottie except the potato plot

weave been collecting the horse dung all summer and stacking it up i had quite a heap that I've just been  spreading on the Lottie  ready to plough in

my horse lady bag-es the horse dung up for me to collect about every fortnight and its free and available 12 months of the year we must have had about 7tonnes stacked  i spead it with my tractor i improvised a spreader on the back of the tractor it saved a lot of time and effort

so good luck with your muck

[Goldfinger]

Sorry to hear that stompy, hopefully the produce will be good quality when it eventually does arrive and more than make up for the delay.  Maybe they'll give it to you at a discounted price as well?

Anyway, mine's arrived.  Just before 9am this morning.  Took me 3 hours to get nearly all of it from where it was dumped onto my plot.  Have some blisters and aching limbs but I know it's gonna be worth it.  Am delighted to say after reading all the above that it's cow dung after all!    It does seem quite fresh, didn't smell much though, only the odd woft when the sun was on it or the fork went in and it was actualy rather a sweet smell which surprised me.

I've only got in about 40 mins ago so it was almost a full day wot with the occasional scive and slurp of apple juice.  It's spread too thick on one of the beds and almost one whole bed with none on, so there's still a bit of dispersing, forking and barrowing to do - but that can wait.  All in all, I'm pretty chuffed!!   

Sweet smell of success to come maybe??   

That's a sign of quality I'd say. The cattle's been fed well and their muck has been stacked/stored well.

I've come across muck that's had a sour smell.