Horse Manure & Worms
NewBoy2
BristolPosts: 1,804
I have had 2 previous deliveries of HM that had the little red worms in it
My latest delivery has none
? Is this a disadvantage.....have they already done their work
Assistance please friends
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
0
Posts
This is not a disadvantage. If the manure is fresh it needs to be composted and worms will make their way in to it to assist in the rotting process. If it is already well rotted it can be used immediately and earthworms will help assimilate it into the soil.
Horses are sometimes infested with red worms so I suppose the last lot was from a horse that wasn't affected or had been wormed recently. I guess the worms would die anyway once they'd been expelled by the host horse.
Thanks both
DyersEnd
Thats an interesting thought about the horse being infected
I do volly work at a stables so I will ask the chap on Thursday
I hope they are brandling worms that will move the goodness down into the soil
The worms horses are usually infected with a white (think tape worms, lung worms, pin worms...) There are red worms that infect a horse (cyathostomes if you want to google image search to compare to your last manure delivery) but I think you are referring to the helpful sort of nice thick juicy red worm.
As you've said they do a brilliant job of taking the goodness deep into the soil: it could be that your latest batch was too warm for them and so they'd retreated to safety. Either way the worms in your garden will soon be at work for you.
I don't think intestinal worms last long outside the host. It's worm eggs that are passed out to be ingested by a new host.
Yes, if the worms are passed out that's because they've already been killed by the treatment which shoud be routinely given to the horse, or they're nearly dead.
They're a totally different sort of worm to the ones usually seen in manure/compost etc.
Don't worms move on once they've done their business? So my guess is it is either fresh or old. If it's well rotted it won't smell at all. We get lots of nice red worms in the horse manure. Worms just happen when needed. They even appear to climb, the ingenious miraculous little critters.
Last edited: 12 September 2016 20:06:38
The manure does not smell and falls apart well and looks "OK " so I feel after all your info that they may have done their work where ever the manure was stored and moved on
? Does that mean they would have taken all of the goodness down into the soil where it was before coming to me
This is not important really as Im not going to ask him to take it back !
No expert here, but they don't like to eat their own waste/ their own castings. So once the manure has been chomped on, and they've passed it, they'll probably move on to something fresher. The castings are excellent. The way I read it, is that you can't really go wrong with horse manure... Other than perhaps having bedding seeds from grasses run rampant. Hasn't been a problem for me. Yet.
Last edited: 13 September 2016 14:54:55
Simple question
If I buy bagged manure and leave it for months will all the worms die off if they cant get out of the plastic bags ?