Beware of collecting horsepoo

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by sun burn, Mar 25, 2011.

  1. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    I have jsut found out that in our part of the world (north queensland australia) that buying horse poo is not good for the garden at all. Well there's nothing wrong with the horsepoo actually but a bag is half sawdust and this sawdust comes from sawmills where the wood is all treated with poisons such as arsenic, cyanide and something else. So its probably not such a great product for your vegetable garden after all.

    It might be worth further research if you are going to continue to use it. AT the least find out about the source of your sawdust and if the timber has been treated.
     
  2. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

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    Location:
    inland Otago, NZ
    Climate:
    Inland maritime/hot/dry/frosty
    Why do you have sawdust in with the horsepoo? Surely you can collect your own horsepoo without the sawdust?
     
  3. milifestyle

    milifestyle New Member

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    Commercially available horse poo is usually collected from stables (often racing stables) where sawdust is used as a bedding material.

    I have never heard of anyone using treated timber sawdust in stables.. i'd be more concerned with what they give the horse - hormones, antibiotics, wormers, performance additives etc that ultimately ends up in your garden.
     
  4. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    No i can't collect my own horsepoo. I don't have any horses. I usually buy it from a side of the road place.

    No i am not worried about antibiotics, hormones and wormers. I imagine these are used up by the horse and are not peed out as hormones antibiotics or wormers. And even if they were, and antibiotic etc got into my soil, do you think the plant would suck it up?

    And why aren't you so worried about arsenic and cyanide that is not digested by any creature? These are known deadily poisons. True i don't know if the plants suck them up but the guy in the sawmill said he wouldn't use it on his vegetable garden.
     
  5. purecajn

    purecajn Junior Member

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    I seem to recall a video of Geoff's where he had old furniture rotting in his garden. Wouldn't the furniture have these same chemicals?
     
  6. milifestyle

    milifestyle New Member

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    I didn't say I wasn't concerned about arsenic and cyanide, I said I doubt it would be used in stables - but who knows what they add to the stuff to keep lice and bugs away...

    Fresh horse poo fed to ordinary earthworms will kill them if a worm treatment or other chemical has been given to the horse within a month of the poo being collected... likewise the poo should be held over for a month before using it if the source is not known - if you are wanting to create an ecological habitat that benefits all levels of life, you probably should be worried about the chemicals in your fertilizer, sun burn.

    EDIT: Fresh sawdust from a sawmill will likely kill your grounds Nitrogen supply... one of the reasons sawdust makes an excellent pathing material, suppresses weeds as well as stealing their feed supply.
     
  7. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    I just got horse manure this past week (1/2ton pick up truck full) where I checked prior as to what they use, & I got a tour. I told them about the food forest I am building and now I can return when I want to refill so long as I pitch it myself. :)

    I know what goes into those horses at that ranch, and I am happy, beyond happy in fact. The material had so many red wiggler worms that it was pretty much already worm compost!!!

    When it finally did make it into my orchard the stuff had so much worms in it that now I am a slave driver with thousands and thousands of workers that I never pay, endlessly, tirelessly, fixing my soil for the better.
     
  8. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

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    Location:
    inland Otago, NZ
    Climate:
    Inland maritime/hot/dry/frosty
    Most side of the road poo here is from paddocks - owners remove the poo because there is too much for the pasture and they bag it and sell it to get rid of it. I can't think of anyone who keeps their horses in a stable; they live in the paddock.

    For the reasons that Eric says, I wouldn't take poo out of a commercial stable (or chicken, pig etc farm) unless I had no other way of increasing fertility.


    What goes in and why are you happy about it?
     
  9. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

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    Location:
    inland Otago, NZ
    Climate:
    Inland maritime/hot/dry/frosty
    And, I also wouldn't use CCA treated sawdust in my garden. I was just pointing out that here at least you can get horsepoo easily that doesn't have sawdust in it.
     
  10. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    well all i know is that the markham timbers gives their treated sawdust to the stables around here. That's what they told me. Of course i don't know which ones it is but i do know that when i buy a bag of horsepoo it is half full of sawdust.
     
  11. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

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    Location:
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  12. pebble

    pebble Junior Member

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    Location:
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    That's pretty bad. Maybe a few phone calls might set the ball rolling for them to either stop the practice or be more honest about it. eg the people selling the manure should be making it explicit that there is CCA in their garden product. It's possible they're unaware there is an issue and they might be glad to hear about it.
     
  13. Pink Angel

    Pink Angel Junior Member

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    I get the horse poo off the side of the road in Melbourne and it sounds as if I am lucky as it has no sawdust just half filled with straw (and of course the poo!!) ;)
     
  14. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    I have to say i agree with you pebble. But i shall check first with them. Perhaps most of the other users are only using it for their ornamental gardens but still they should be told. If not, i think its worth making it public knowledge either through the local paper or through the DPI or someone. I think people have a right to know.
     
  15. Michaelangelica

    Michaelangelica Junior Member

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    I seem to be getting poorer than expected results with local manures esp. chicken and horse.
     
  16. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    I am most happy and thankful because of the Permaculture relationship I made with my community. They allow me to pitch countless amounts from this horse ranch, already composted, and filled with worms (Red Wigglers they are called here). I also know the ranch is very strict and organic with its care of the horses.

    In addition, the worms will help my clay riddled soil tremendously since I need. Being as not well off as some other Americans this is a huge huge amount of money saved for me that helps me, my family, my community, and our Earth.

    Secondly, I am reminded of Bill M. on a video talking about ((I think it was Global Gardener)) an organic farmer that spread worms to less fertile parts of his property. I am simply doing the same thing. I need more organic matter, more importantly, I need the 1/2ton pick up truck filled with worms in compost for the overall organic matter.

    The worms are my 24/7 slave labor force of mirco-tillers and fertilizers! MUAH HAHHAHAAHHAHAH :p
     
  17. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    That study used "Soil amended with liquid hog manure" and made generalizations from one end to the other. I don't trust it based on the 'glittering generalities' & although cited as reference material, it was posted at the university by "Anonymous," and is 1 page long as a pdf.
     
  18. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    Thanks for the link pakanohida. Its strange how down on even simple manure they are since gardeners have been using it for eons without seemingly detrimental effects.
     
  19. geoff

    geoff Junior Member

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    Isn't timber treatment carried out after milling?

    You're advised to re-paint cut surfaces of treated timber because you've broken the barrier that the treatment originally formed. So if they treated whole logs, then milled them, they would have to re-treat the entire lot.
     
  20. DJ-Studd

    DJ-Studd Junior Member

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    I recall a thread on here from a few years back where a study showed plants did infact absorb antibiotics. Just food for thought.
     

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