Fertilizer…………………?
ByI was at a farm today and I heard about this owner who comes once a week with his lawn mower and mows his horse’s pasture that’s full of poop. Is that okay to do???
Pastures need to be mowed for weed control.
Using a lawn mower is OK, as long as he sets the mower deck high enough to avoid most of the poop. If it’s a small paddock, the poops should be removed first, but you can’t do that in a large field.
Harrowing is a bad idea, as it spreads the parasite laden poops wide and far. Drying them, or wetting them, or freezing them has no effect; only composting them in a pile will kill the little buggers. If you just leave them where they’re put (large pasture), the horse will avoid them and gradually develop a "toilet" area. In a paddock, they must be removed.
I use a tractor and brushhog to mow my pastures as necessary, usually every other week in the spring, once a month in the fall.
Edit: If your horse is in a field that’s harrowed or spread with fresh poop, your horse will need much more frequent worming. I prefer to keep the pastures freer of worm eggs, the horses freer of worms, and have to deworm them only twice a year. I have fecal counts done, and the vet says they’re low, even before I worm.
The horses get fewer worms, they get fewer chemicals, they’re less likely to suffer from either, and I save money.
see all the answers on poop compost
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Mowing your pasture once a week is not okay to do. Are you sure he is not dragging a harrow behind the disengaged mower, and just spreading the manure over the field? we harow and drag in one fell swoop, and the harrow and drag are pulled behind our mower, which is not mowing when we do it.
References :
Pastures need to be mowed for weed control.
Using a lawn mower is OK, as long as he sets the mower deck high enough to avoid most of the poop. If it’s a small paddock, the poops should be removed first, but you can’t do that in a large field.
Harrowing is a bad idea, as it spreads the parasite laden poops wide and far. Drying them, or wetting them, or freezing them has no effect; only composting them in a pile will kill the little buggers. If you just leave them where they’re put (large pasture), the horse will avoid them and gradually develop a "toilet" area. In a paddock, they must be removed.
I use a tractor and brushhog to mow my pastures as necessary, usually every other week in the spring, once a month in the fall.
Edit: If your horse is in a field that’s harrowed or spread with fresh poop, your horse will need much more frequent worming. I prefer to keep the pastures freer of worm eggs, the horses freer of worms, and have to deworm them only twice a year. I have fecal counts done, and the vet says they’re low, even before I worm.
The horses get fewer worms, they get fewer chemicals, they’re less likely to suffer from either, and I save money.
References :
The ‘Newer Spreader’ company lists a couple of reasons to clean out your stalls and spread it on the pastures. Using their spreader, of course.
Parasites aren’t much of a worry here. The whole barn has a very regular de-worming schedule. We spread it on the pastures and let the sun bake it.
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The object is to spread the manure out,this lessen the chance of sour grass and break the life cycle of internal parasites to a large degree.Ideally you would harrow and spell a pasture,perhaps running cattle over it before returning the horses to the pasture as the have only one or two internal parasites in common.
So if he truly is using a lawn mower short answer no.
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the only parts of my life I wasted were the parts without horses