worm bin/ horse manure- wormer question

Hi,

I have access to horse poop.
They feed the horse a food that has Strongid in it. Will this just decompose out? Can I ultimately mix it in the worm bin after X period of time?

Thanks for your help,

Maggie

This message was edited Sep 3, 2006 7:15 AM

I will admit to spending a ridiculous amount of time concluding that
Yes, that is a good question!
K. James

Sorry, I was trying to be funny. Won't quit my day job. ;-)

Maggie

My only honest concern is whether the worms are truely dead and there are no eggs from them in the feces. If they are alive or there are eggs they may be ingested by birds or other critters thereby infesting them. The eggs may also be able to wait until the conditions are just right and hatch out in your beds where you or your furbabies may pick them up during contact with the compost. I know you say you are joking, but this is a real possiblity. Ask you local vet if he has an opinion on the subject. I'm not concerned about the Strongid, it will decompose or maybe even kill off some other bad insects in the compost.

Don't most people worm their horses on a regular basis? As a result doesn't all horse manure have a good chance of having some of the medicine and worm eggs in their manure. If you compost the manure to a hot temperature, that will probably kill worm eggs. I just compost mine and pretty soon I have red wiggler earthworms all through it. I use the horse manure everywhere and my two dogs have not had any worms. The dog next door however got a tape worm somewhere, but he doesn't get into the yard my dogs live in.
The vet said that the dog probably ate a flea that contained a tapeworm egg. My guess is that earthworms don't mind horse manure once it is past the hot stage and internal horse worms may not even live in dogs. One way or the other, if they can get them from fleas, I don't see how you can prevent your dogs getting worms even if you use no horse manure.
Betty

I'm not worried about the dogs. I'm worried about the earthworms. Vets don't seem to know aboutearthworms- at least mine doesn't.

Maggie

I don't know much about earthworms either except that they are always there, whether the manure is fresh or aged. My guess is the worming medicine only works on the kind of worms in a horse's digestive tract. Either that or the medicine kills them off and more come back in a day or so. I have never been picky about where I get my horse manure, except I prefer places that help you shovel, and earthworms never seem to disappear from my compost piles. My guess is that worming medicine for horses isn't a big problem in vermiculture, but that is a guess.

I couldn't find any concrete info, but the medicine is intended to work on platyhelminthes and Nematoda -class worms, if I remember right. Not mentioned is Annelida, our friendly earthworms.
The other clue I tried to follow was "halflife" of the worm-paralyzing drug. How long does it last until it's molecules break apart?

My guess is in line with the PajaritoMt. Don't worry about it.
Kenton

Thanks for the input. Now where is that place that helps you shovel? ;-)

Maggie

Extended family, money-strapped neighbor kids...

What you need to do is taste the manure and if it has a sharp onion taste the strongid is still there. LOL. Anyway all worms follow a process of host to host transfer and no horse worms (Strongids, Ascarids, and Bots) will infect any of your concerned ones. The strongid that is used is so diluted in the manure it is not to be of any concern to the family of earthworms. Horse manure treated with strongid ( a relativly safe wormer) is delivered to the outside when it is passed and it is chemically changed, diluted, destroyed by sun, eaten by bacteria, and dessicated by drying it is only a dribble of yuck a worm has to pass through to continue to deposit the valuable castings in your compost.

Thanks Soferdig, I appreciate your help.

Maggie

All horse people periodically worm their horses. Some worm every 3 months, some every day, then there are always the people that worm 2 times a year. There's no way to know which manure has wormer med residue and which does not. It evidently doesn't matter or we would have heard about it on the 6:00 news. :-) (their always looking for a way to make people worry) ~~~ Carol