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Wyllow
Platinum Member
 United Kingdom
2885 Posts |
 Posted - 03 May 2007 : 11:40:36 AM
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They say you can judge a yard by it's MUCK HEAP !!!!!!!!!!!
OK, own up.....do you have a "pile of poo" haphazardly piled in the corner?
Do you fling it secretly into the hedge, hoping no one sees or wonders why the brambles grow or the blackberries are SOOOOOOOOOO good?
Do you have it taken away in a skip and pay through the nose to rid yourself of the stuff?
Do you have a "Manure Enterprise" quietly growing amongst the alotment gardeners in your neighbourhood who buy it in bags as organic fertilizer for their Dahlias and Marrows?
or....do you have an impressively neat and organised muck heap, carefully layered and teased into shape, the sort that might be included in any manual of horsemanship as ideal muck management????
....no, that's not the end of my curiosity.....do you use a fork, rubber gloves, a handy little skipping out set, buckets, barrows...or your bare hands  to muck out a stable or pick a field???
I ask as I've just moved yards and I'm very dilligent at the moment about how I manage my muck so as not to disappoint anyone with my failure to put poo in it's proper place!!!
Go on, how do you do it????
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rosyw
Platinum Member
England
3756 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 11:51:27 AM
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Ok then:
Muck out using shavings fork, broom, shovel & barrow, they're on rubber matting so fairly straightforward, then onto a fairly tidy heap which local gardners and allotment holders collect when they want some, they bag it up and take it for free just so I can rid of it!
Poo picking from the paddock is done with a Terra Vac and emptied onto the same muck heap.
All sounds so easy - NOT! |
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geegee
Platinum Member
England
3682 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 11:51:51 AM
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Hi,
I have my horses at home but I have a corner of the field where I dump their poo. I muck out with a large bucket and plastic shaving fork then tip that into my small dumper. I then drive to the corner of the field and "dump" it. At the end of the week I have a little fire () and hey presto it almost disappears
I know, not very environmentaly friendly but does less damage than a lorry omitting fumes whilst collecting it....that's my theory anyway |
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Judith S
Platinum Member
Wales
15686 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 11:54:09 AM
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Lisa - its against the law now to burn your muck heap!
WE have a large untidy - but contained muck heap - farmer friend spreads it for us yearly.
Vera has an immaculate one....she posted a photo of it a while back!
Judith |
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Zoe Tyzack
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4047 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 12:04:01 PM
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Hi
Yes i remember Veras Muck heap !!!
Mine is kept extreamly tidy using a fork.
cant say how i get rid of mine though
My biggest pet hate is an untidy muck heap and i rake up around the edge !!!
Muck out with fork,shavings fork,shovel,broom and not to forget my faithful friend My Poo Bucket and Scoop,cant live without that !!!
my fork is a Three prong,much lighter,quicker and easier to muck out with
Poo pick with Poo Bucket and Scoop and rubber gloves then it goes in the hedges
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Zoe.x |
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NatH
Platinum Member
England
2695 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 12:09:10 PM
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| Mine, very organised and neat. I have it taken away once the 'bay' that its in is full |
Natalie
Chapel Lane Arabians
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geegee
Platinum Member
England
3682 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 12:40:36 PM
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| ok, I don't burn it then. The poo fairies come and take it away |
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MinHe
Platinum Member
England
2927 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 1:12:54 PM
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Having been brought up 'old-fashioned', whenever possible, mine is cavalry-barracks-standards, with right-angled corners and a dead level top, compacted as necessary by jumping up and down on it (warms the feet a treat on frosty mornings!).
I use those Stubbs muckpickers/skips, both in the stables and in the paddock, but for the paddock I use the rakes upside down, as not only do they collect the muck better that way, but they are less liable to get bent/broken.
I use an old-fashioned muck fork for wet/dirty straw and for layering the muckheap. A nice squared-off heap is a sight to treasure!
Keren |
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KittyB
Silver Member
United Kingdom
295 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 1:55:48 PM
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| Shavings fork, broom and wheelbarrow to muck out, both on rubber mats so easy-peasy. Rubik's cube shaped muck heap with straight edges and flat top. This is on a concrete base, sloping down to a groove where the liquid goes off into the drain, concrete block walls on three sides. I rake the edges, square the sides, trample the tope and sweep up underneath, then the chickens go and scratch it all up again (little b***ers!). Great eggs though! I have a "thing" about my muck heap and it's got to be very tidy. Farmer chain-harrows the fields thankfully and the horses get moved around in and amongst/before and after sheep and cows. We use most of the manure on our garden and the remainder goes to family and friends. I usually have two heaps - one old and one new. |
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Wyllow
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2885 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 2:01:50 PM
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For the first time in AGES. I'm obsessing about muck!
I have to have the right gloves ~ heavy duty marigolds
...the right fork ~ a particular three pronged sharp one as I have straw beds.
....and I use fork for major piles and gloved hands for "bits" in the stables.
The fields are picked with a skippy thingy and then a narrow proged fork and sometimes a rake and again, I follow up with hand picking.
The "collection" from stable or elsewhere gets barrowed to "the heap".
Ah, now this is a thing of joy as it was designed for a whole yard full and now only two of mine contribute as the other cobs have manure added to another place of their own.
Oh the EMBARRASSMENT!!!!
The first couple of days or so, the poo was not spread very evenly and the GARDENER, after fertilizer for roses straightened it.
The SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I now religiously follow a procedure of levelling and stomping it down and straightening it up and I'm lucky as it is based in a purpose built semi~pit arrangement.
I've decided I'll never be left red faced again by a GARDENER who seems to have had a better take on how to build one than me!!!!!!!!
Perhaps we should have a contest for the tidiest muck heap amongst Aliners.
Mine is just in it's infancy, but I swear it will grow up to be a credit to it's "Mum"!!!!!!!!!
By the way.....I think many fairies help with heaps on the quiet!
Useful little folk, aren't they?!
We had some helping with ours for a while elsewhere but found their smoking ~ never thought fairies did that sort of thing but they must as it wasn't a fire, I swear ~ particularly noxious !
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Judith S
Platinum Member
Wales
15686 Posts |
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Wyllow
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2885 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 2:35:19 PM
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There is an ART to making a good muck heap and this article EULOGISES the heap as a thing of wonder ~ I reccommend a good read!!
Now, what I'd like to ask is this ~
How many people encourage air flow in their heap as most of the heaps I've seen are packed down.
Do many of you turn it or add components to speed up rotting? |
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rosyw
Platinum Member
England
3756 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 2:45:47 PM
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Gosh Judith - that sounds like really hard work!
I was always taught to keep the heap well compacted with the sides as straight as possible so that any rain would go into the heap rather than flow down the sides, works well for me! I'm getting a bad back just thinking about all that turning! |
Edited by - rosyw on 03 May 2007 3:24:22 PM |
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crinks
Gold Member
England
650 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 2:56:12 PM
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Muck heap lives in the corner of the farm yard designated for that purpose, mostly its tidy and neat but it has been known to occasionally 'escape'. Once a year its taken away and spread on the fields as fertiliser and then we start again with a brand new one.
Mucking out, well the fairies do that, at least i think its the fairies.............. Yos Oh tends to do the mucking out, say its his 'thinking time' and he likes it so who am I to put any end to his enjoyment? |
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Wyllow
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2885 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 2:59:46 PM
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I must have missed Vera's amazing muck heap when she posted it......so I ran a search and FOUND IT. BLIMEY Vera, what a whoppa ~ love the banks!!!!
My heap is going to be reviewed again this afternoon as I'm clearly entering a very compeitive arena here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe there should be regional contests with a National Final ?
You know, a bit like Britain in Bloom. |
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Silvern_Scepris
Gold Member
England
1084 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 3:18:31 PM
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| The muckheap at our yard is a big, messy pile, that is tidied up by YO with his tractor, and the muckman collects it when it starts to take over the drive . Once the tractor broke down, and my friend and I done the muckheap properly, but on-one kept it up |
  
London/Essex Border |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
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anne
Gold Member
England
877 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 4:32:38 PM
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As we have had lots of building work going on for the whole time we have had the horses here the builder would often have there fires onto of my muck heap (shavings) and what was left my friend usually mixes it in with all the soil we have to move around with his JCB.
As the building work is thankfully coming to an end I will have to approach the Muck heap question having seen Vera's muck heap I think I have some serious planning to do |
    
..................................................................... Photo by David Evans |
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Nuttybabez
Gold Member
England
522 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 6:52:04 PM
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The muckheap at our yard is also a big, messy pile, tidied up by YO with his tractor when it starts to take over the yard and get too close to the stables. YO does take it away once in a blue moon but no idea what he does with it.
My mucking out is done with a brush, shavings fork and wheelbarrow. |
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Chris James
Silver Member
United Kingdom
497 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2007 : 7:05:39 PM
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Guess we're lucky, we're able to compost several muck-heaps from the stables - the next but one was bagged up totally and taken away for Roses/beans/whatever.
However - again I think we are lucky in that field droppings are turned over and spread by the jackdaws, crows etc.
but the downside is that the jackdaws land on horses backs and peckout winter fluff for nests!
Great........ horses won't be frightened of birds --- but not good for coats. shall put summer-sheets on now.
best,
C x
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Chris James
http://home2.btconnect.com/cjames-arabians |
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