Poor me ,My manure won't cook

When we were in the sheep business we shed lambed and all the bedding from the jugs plus the cow and horse poop too .That pile of manure always decomposed great . Now we are down to a few horses with manure from the tie stall and very little urine in it . That pile just sits and never heats . Would it help if I watered ?

to dry and not enough nitrogen can all make for a cold pile

you should have enough nitrogen with the manure

if you dig in it a bit and it isn't moist as a rung out sponge , yes water it

Cows moisture content (manure) is very high -- I swear that sheep pee more than they (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) - horses - don't know. Add water and let it cook -- stir occasionaly.

Make the pile circumference smaller but build up the manure higher. It will get so hot that it will steam. When you feel the heat or notice the steam, take front end loader or shovel and flip the pile.

Don't forget to turn the pile now and again, a good pile needs air too.

Air, nitrogen, carbon and moisture. It will cook if all those are right.

Horses are related to camels and thus are very liquid efficient and less urine in proportion to manure and less moisture in the manure. Also the bedding percent of the total mix may be higher. Typical bedding materials, straw, shavings etc. are dry and are very, very low in Nitrogen. Adding moisture and moist green manure crops and yes making the mile smaller with more height will increase heat.

Bryce

It also depends on how high of protein content the animals' feed is. Grain fed animals will have more N than their typical pastured counterparts.

Lots of good advice given. There's different ways to compost too. If you add dead animals to the compost pile, you can get a good worm population going. It's called vermicomposting. I am more for vermicomposting than high heat. Add poultry manure to add heat. And don't forget to have fun with the compost.

Horse manure dries out quite fast. We used to pile it but it turns into dust if we didn't get rain. Now it gets piled and hauled right away.

I am going to put a sprinkler on it and add some more very green horse manure to it . I never had trouble with this while we were running sheep and cows .thanks to all .

The manure needs some moisture.

Out sheep doo that's in the barn is dry..like BBs the stuff we put into mineral tubs for fertilizing composts nicely.

I put 1 quart sheep doo and I cup chicken doo in a 5 gallon bucket then fill the bucket with water..stir and water any and everything that i want to grow in the garden.