Reply #25: Correct [View All]

I have several areas around the ranch where we compost horse, donkey, goat, and chicken manure, along with the wood shavings they're bedded on, soiled hay, etc. You just keep adding more on top, and when you need some to spread, you dig down a little to the rich, decomposed, black stuff. We also don't have much of a problem with flies, because we feed diatomaceous earth to all of these guys (google it--wonderful stuff!)

Fresh manure is too "hot", and should not be used. It will burn your plants up. Also, definitely do NOT use any that comes from a meat-eating animal--dogs, cats, humans. It's about worthless as fertilizer, and too disease-ridden. You have to be somewhat careful in the summer, as the composting process causes alot of heat, and your manure pile can actually catch fire. But it also kills out parasites. Be especially careful with cow manure, as it can harbor e coli for quite some time.

We really don't have much smell at all. Very dry climate here. I always have gorgeous vegetable and flower gardens, and landscaping.