Horse manure vs. cow

I have access to both, which is better? The cow manure is a few months old, and the horse is ongoing. I am mixing with coffee grounds and leaves. I have been using the cow, but I thought maybe I should start mixing in some horse as well.
Thanks,
Karen

I'm pretty sure you have to leave horse manure age longer.
Also, horse leave-behinds may have more chemical byproducts
in them. Depends on what they are being fed and injected with.

I'm sure someone who really knows about this will soon jump in. :)

Horse manure tends to be higher in salts and may have more weed seeds.
I've noticed that we get more grubs with the composted horse manure. If you have a few chickens nearby, you may want to let them patrol it first.

Here's an earlier thread with this topic:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/762004/

more info:
http://www.plantea.com/manure.htm

https://www.ruralheritage.com/messageboard/frontporch/9017.htm

Germinater took the words right outta ... well, my keyboard!

It's advisable to let either one compost for a while before using it. My horses actually have very little added to their food that could cause any problems, but the one big one that *most* use is dewormer. It does break down after a few months, especially if you're tossing and turning the manure, but you will be wormless if you use it directly on a bed. And other horses could be getting medications, or could be ill or ... who knows. I'd let it sit, add sunshine, some brown stuff and let it cook for a bit.

I know "steer manure" is heavy in salts and can burn plants if not composted first. Whether or not that is of the same composition as cow manure, I dunno. But I think there's also more seeds of plants in the cow's manure, especially if they are grazed in pasture with weeds. Composting with a hot pile will help you with that.

HTH, good luck!

I guess you may want to compost a little of each and see which one your plants prefer.

Oh, that's funny - we totally contradicted each other on that one, G_M.

Well, both animals are often provided to salt in the form of blocks to lick, or even added to their food, so I can see the salt being at issue.

There are a lot of variables with manure, Type or bedding, type of feed, type of veterinary care etc. I've always read that horse manure was higher in salt that cow manure (not steer manure) due to the physiology of the horse. My soil tests have reflected that.

We have a local winery makes composted horse manure available to any who want to drive up and get it. They have a stable and mix the manure & bedding with the grape pomace leftover from the winemaking. It really is very nice horse compost.
It's also loaded with horse bot fly eggs. I found this out the hard way when I used it as bedding in my worm bin. I like to alternate the available manures - got to have those veggies on a balanced diet! LOL!

Another advantage to cow manure (karri_sue you did say cow, not steer) is the microbial content in the manure that passes from the rumen (assuming a healthy cow here, not a CAFO or feedlot animal).

Have you seen this article about how the probiotic culture present on the nose of a healthy cow makes the pasture grow better:
http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/August02_CowCulture.pdf

I noticed when we had both a horse and a cow in our field a few year back that the horse manure was not as fully digested as that of the cow. Both animals were eating the same pasture grasses and were fed the same alfalfa. This meant that the horse manure broke down slower and contained more viable weed seeds and it was not as hot or moist as it came fresh from the animal. I don't know what that means in a compost pile though since we raked it all into a pile and ignored it for a year before using it in my planting beds.

I was thinking about just what Zany said- seems like the cow would digest its food more fully than the horse, and with the horse having shavings in it, ..I would see that as providing the garden with a bit more fiber to further decay afte composting.

I would probably use some of each to hedge my bets.

IMO...the best is free poops placed with the least effort and time.

All of our dairys work with and move only a slurry. That is often difficult for surburban users to deal with. It is so ripe that tilling immediately is a must.

neighbor's been there and we smelled that

It's all good! LOL

LOL, I am familiar with that odiferous slurry! I much prefer the patties from the fields. Takes more effort to gather them into a pile but they are not so smelly when you rake them if they have been able to dry out in the field a bit! Guess that's the old city gal in me ;~)

It sure isn't the same old s*** with a new set of flies.

SORRY.
Couldn't resist. :)))

LOL it sure isn't!

Wow, thanks for all of your responses! I found out today that it was a young castrated male that was eventually butchered. My son-in-law said that there wouldn't be as much salt as steer manure, I don't know if he knows what he is talking about. The horse is a miniature and I don't think they de-worm it, not often anyway. It seems that the majority think the cow is better than the horsemanure. I think I will continue using it as it is already aged a few months and maybe use the horse after it runs out.
Thank you for all the info, everyone is so helpful here!
Karen

Good luck, karri-sue, be sure to post any results if you see a marked difference. Enquiring minds, and all that carp...