What the truth about horse manure?

[Dorothy]

I have read to take precaution when using fresh horse manure as it carries tentanus -
"C. tetani (a bacillus) is a normal and harmless inhabitant of many animals (eg. horses) and humans and is a common environmental organism found in soil. Infection with the bacillus may occur after minor incidents (sometimes unnoticed punctures to the skin) or after major injury: compound fractures; wounds containing foreign bodies, especially wood splinters; wounds complicated by pyogenic infections; wounds with extensive tissue damage, e.g. contusions or burns; any superficial wound obviously contaminated with soil, dust or horse manure, especially if topical disinfection is delayed more than 4 hours. Tetanus is not directly transmitted from person to person."
As per Department of Health and Ageing - Tetanus
Additional reading - http://www.go-pets.com/articles/equine_tetanus.htm

[Tropic]

Ray ... you have every right to object to having any animal poop present in your near sterile kitchen ... regardless of its form. But somehow I do not think that God's beautiful green earth was made so entirely by industrially balanced chemcal products placed on plants at carefully determined timetables. More so is the fact that when one really sees and studies the original sites of good plant growth in the wild, there is every amount of animal waste spread liberally on tree branches, leaves, roots and within knot holes. Some plants encourage this to the extent that they bear fruit with laxative properties to guarantee a good dose of fertilizer from the feeding birds and monkeys. Lizards, bats and snakes are also prime suppliers of good fertilizer to trees and there is every reason to immediately notice the benefits that roosting birds give to their host tree(Just do not park your car underneath it). Now, when it comes to orchids... .they eagerly cling to these branches and benefit from the run off of such animal waste that is diluted when it rains or even when there is a heavy dew. Some orchids produce roots that are very efficient in capturing this nutrient run-off. But, I am still happy that horses, cows and elephants do not fly ... though has anyone ever thought about what happens with the waste from some aeroplanes?

[susiep]

Ok, now to take this poop conversation to the next level. I grew up with horses and orchids and it never occured to me to use it as fertilizer for the orchids (not natural because most orchids don't grow on the ground where the horse poop is found). However, every one that I knew that had roses was always asking to come out and get some horse poop like it was the best thing in the world.

Now, have you seen the bottled, liquid worm poop at Home Depot for $5 for a little bottle? It's organic (big woop). I don't want to bring worm poop in the house either. But I am curious if it gives good results.

I'm a pharmacist. Chemistry is my world. To me everything is just a chemical, a molecule, an element. "Natural" is just a relative term.

[Tropic]

Having grown up on a farm in a very remote part of the Amazon, I was also very used to the various uses made of what I then considered just animal waste matter. Of all the many animals we had on the farm, the main treasured fertilizer was horse manure and this was used in various ways. One main use was to produce a sludge that was left for weeks to cure in drums before diluting to make a tea that was poured directly around various fruit trees. I remember its use also as a fertilizer for the orchids that were planted on the orchard trees and they definitely flourished. I have not yet seen or used worm poop in liquid form, but I am sure that it would also be as good or even better than many of the other liquid organic fertilizers that are produced from seaweed or fishmeal.

[DebsC]

Just my 2 cents worth here. I live on a farm but have no horses. Cow manure is too strong and will burn plants if not properly aged.

I have grown oncidums in horse poop from my sister's grass fed horses. As an experiment, I grew two identically sized oncidium seedlings, side by side. One in traditional mix and one in straight, fresh horse poop.

The results were amazing! The HP orchid was twice as big and so very luch and green. Just gorgeous!

I didn't get the chance to further experiment as my sister sold her horses. But I did mix some in with my regular bark mixture a catt was growing in.

The results for the catt weren't as spectacular as for the oncidium, but good just the same.

The horse poop doesn't smell after a couple of weeks and I didn't store it in my greenhouse but in a covered bucket outside.