Manure too hot?

I have access to a huge amount of sheep manure. One of the piles is three or four years old, the manure i got from this pile (10 cubic yards) still stinks. I thought a strong smell was an indicator of the pile still being too hot. Because this was a ten foot high pile that was never turned, is it possible that the interior of the pile is still not composted enough to use. The pile was also partially submerged in January during a flood, if that makes any difference.

Thanks for any information or advice.

Any manure that has sat over 1 year is good to go. You can mix it with leaves, stems, wood chips, bark, pine needles, any Carbonaceous material and it will be even better ammendment.

Soferdig, thanks for the info. Why is it that the carbonaceous material helps?

Plants are made up of combinations of Carbon, Nitrogen, and water and all these need to be in the soil to make the plant in the sky. Manure is primarily Nitrogen and needs more carbon to make the building blocks for plant to grow and soil to get healthy. No plants grow in pure manure.

Thank you!

yes tom ,your manure is good to use i have chickens and my manure has steam rising from it when i use it,never had a pland quit on me yet.I quit digging in a fue time man what a hum.I mix mine with some sawdust my plants love it.