Is Horse Manure as good as Cow Manure?

I am planting a garden for the first time and plan to grow big pumpkins, cantalope and watermelons on a gentle slopping hill on the back of our property. I have read that I need to add manure to the soil first, and I have access to tons of free horse manure. Will that work as well as cow manure? I also plan to grow tomatoes, basil, oregeno, and parsley in another flat area, can I use the same manure to treat that soil as well?

I have used both with good results but I prefer cow manure since it is not as "hot" as horse and so will not burn your plants. Generally, you can apply as much cow as you want right away without composting. At home on my father's farm we always started our tomato seeds in pure cow manure. (Jiffy mix and other "sterile" potting mixes were unheard of in those days.)

Horse manure sometimes contains a lot of weed seeds, and should be aged for several months before using. Horse manure has a relative high nitrogen content and so a little will go a long way.

ummm, , , , fiddle, think you may have it backwards about cows and horses, pooh-wise.

Horse manure is little more than fully composted hay, quite low in NPK. Fresh cow manure, courtesy of cud chewing and four stomachs, is much higher in chemical content. I've often planted shortly after tilling in horse manure with no problems, but it wouldn't hurt to let it sit for a month or so before planting.

Hard to say which is better - depends on what your soil needs. Horse manure will add a good deal more coarse organic matter than cow stuff will.

tcase, I've not had a weed problem, but our horses eat only good quallity horse hay which has virtually no weeds in it.

Frank

How common farm manures measure up

Manure N-P-K
Chicken 1.1 .80 .50
Diary cow .25 .15 .25
Horse .70 .30 .60
Steer .70 .30 .40
Rabbit 2.4 1.4 .60
Sheep .70 .30 .90

Sources: Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, An Illustrated Guide to
Organic Gardening, by Sunset Publishing, and the Rodale Guide to Composting.

Note: Nutrient values of manures vary greatly, depending on the diet and
age of the animals, and the nature and quantiy of bedding in the mix.

Well, I learn something every now and then whether I need to or not (LOL). As I posted earlier, I've used fresh horse stuff and found it easy in the garden.

fiddle, is that for fresh or aged stuff?

Frank

I'd like to repeat the warning about fresh manure sometimes containing weed seeds. I lost a whole vegetable garden that way.

Upon moving to our new house in the country, I laid out a big area for a vegetable garden. My son-in-law had a dump truck and a farmer friend who'd give us unlimited free cow manure - so I put three big dump truck loads on the new garden. I have a tractor and a plow, so I worked the manure in 'way deep, no problem with too much nitrogen or burning plants that way.

I got the worst dose of Johnson Grass you ever saw. Those cows were on pasture, and their manure was FULL of Johnson Grass seeds. If you're not familiar with it, Johnson Grass grows fast to about 4' tall, has a million seeds, and also spreads from deep roots as big around as your finger. The roots are brittle and every time you break a root in trying to pull or plow it out - every piece of root left in the soil makes a new plant!

I fought the Johnson Grass in that garden for two years, then moved my vegetable garden to another spot far away from it. The area where the old garden was is part of our yard that gets mowed now, but I still fight Johnson Grass in the nearby fenceline. Herbicides won't kill it - it just comes up again from the roots.

Since then, I've made three big compost bins that I work with the tractor and front-end bucket. Any manure gets composted for a year and turned many times before use.

It is important to consider how green the manure is and the quantity being added to your garden. This answer comes only from experience.

good Luck!

Jerry

Many years ago in my first garden in Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County, east of Pittsburgh), we had a large unfenced garden space that bordered onto a wooded area. I ordered a dump truck load of manure from a local dairy to spread on the garden. They delivered it in early March, temps were still in the 30's. It steamed for days! My young wife was not so happy about that!

I guess the dairy cows were not feeding in the pasture during that winter and were only getting dairy feed. No weed seeds in that load. Best garden that I ever had.