Content
Goat manure for the garden as a fertilizer is still not widely used. This is explained by the fact that it is usually not sold. Goat owners prefer to use the fertilizer on their own plots, rather than sell it outside. The reason for this deficit is quality. Goat manure is on a par with horse manure, which is considered the best natural fertilizer.
Benefits of goat manure for soil and plants
The main advantage of this type of fertilizer is a small amount of moisture in the feces. True, it is also a disadvantage. Due to the lack of moisture in the nuts, goat manure contains more nutrients per kilogram than any other type of faeces from farm animals.
Under most plants, goat nuts can be laid without fear that they will burn the roots. Although manure from goats belongs to the category of "hot", but for a full-fledged overheating, a litter soaked in urine is also needed. "Clean" pellets will decompose slowly, without overheating the soil and without giving up the entire supply of nutrients at once. As a result, the plant will be “provided” with the necessary elements during the entire vegetative period.
Goat droppings composition
Apparently, due to the disinterest of large farms in goat breeding, serious studies of the composition of goat manure have not been carried out. And private owners of these animals do not need to give samples for analysis. In any case, they will have all the manure "go" to the beds. Only this can explain the strong discrepancies in the data on the chemical composition of manure. But in many ways, the nutrient content depends on which species was analyzed.
The humus contains on average:
- nitrogen 0.5%;
- potassium 0.6%;
- phosphorus 0.25%.
Some of the elements are inevitably lost when overheated. If humus is made in violation of technology, the losses will be even greater.
Comparative data for different types of manure are presented in the table:
The data is different from the above. But if we take into account that in the first case, indicators are given for humus, and in the second for "pure" excrement, then the picture changes. Fresh goat nuts contain far more nutrients than humus. In most indicators, they are superior to cow and pork. Although, if you "squeeze the water" to the same indicators, it turns out that the cow dung contains 3 times more nutrients. Only removing moisture without loss will not work. And goat - ready-made "granules".
Pros and cons of using goat manure in the garden
The "clean" "nuts" have undeniable advantages over any other types of manure, except for rabbit:
- there is no unpleasant smell;
- a unique bacterial composition that allows you to use fresh goat manure;
- almost complete absence of eggs dangerous to humans, worms;
- suitable for many garden crops;
- improves soil structure.
Fresh manure mixed with bedding can be used in greenhouses. When overheated, it gives off a lot of heat. If you place it under greenhouse beds, you can plant plants in a greenhouse without fear that the roots will freeze.
Otherwise, too high a temperature during overheating can burn the delicate roots of young plants.
Of the minuses, it should be noted the difficulties in the preparation of humus. Due to the low humidity, goat manure does not heat well in the pile. Some sources indicate the need for frequent fertilization of the soil as a disadvantage: every 1-2 years. But other experts think it's all about quantity. If you add enough manure, then its effect will last up to 5 years. Such contradictions force one to be wary of this type of fertilizer.
What plants can goat droppings be used for?
In this case, it is easier to say for which plants goat manure cannot be used as fertilizer: bulbous flowers and garlic. Flowers do not tolerate this type of feeding. They start to rot and stop blooming.
Hyacinths do not like goat fertilizer, either fresh or rotten.
Even rotted goat manure should not be added under the garlic. Perhaps due to the specific intestinal microflora, the plant begins to hurt. The yield is low as a result.
Having given some of the nutrients to other plants, the manure becomes suitable for garlic. The bacteria that live in the digestive tract of animals also have time to die. As a result, garlic grows very large and even on such a “second year” fertilizer.
Cucumbers and tomatoes respond very well to the introduction of fresh manure from goats. Their yield doubles. Onions respond well. It turns out large and not bitter.
It is better to add rotted manure under root crops. When planting potatoes, many gardeners do not fertilize the entire beds, but put humus directly into the hole.
How to use goat droppings
As fertilizer goat manure is used in two forms: fresh and rotted. The first one is convenient to use for digging in the fall and in a greenhouse. The second is laid directly under the plants when planting. It can also be applied to the soil in the spring when preparing outdoor beds.
Fresh
It can be really fresh if the goat nuts are picked immediately or half-rotted. The latter happens if the owner cleans the goat's rue in the spring and fall. Sometimes only in the spring. It is beneficial to keep goats on a deep bedding in winter. It is dry enough not to ruin the legs of the animals and hot enough to keep the room warm.
When cleaning the goat's rue in the spring, the owner will receive a semi-over-matured mass. And at the bottom there will be almost ready-made humus, and on top there will be completely fresh excrement. Such goat manure is suitable for application under the beds in the greenhouse.
Dry
Dried manure from any animal is only suitable as mulch. Or as fuel in treeless regions. This is especially true for goat and horse manure, which are already drier at the exit than any other type of excrement.
Humus
For better overheating, goat manure is recommended to be mixed with compost. This is due to the small amount of "product" produced by goats, and its low humidity. The finished pile should be periodically watered with water, but not overmoistened.
Manure for humus is harvested in two ways. The first is frequent cleaning of the goat's rue and briquetting. The second is keeping goats on deep bedding and cleaning waste 2 times a year.
Briquettes, as they are filled, are placed in a pile or left for long-term storage. In this case, the workpieces are laid on a dense bedding and covered with hay. If necessary, make humus briquettes are crushed, diluted with water to a pasty state and a pile is made. Vegetable waste and straw are added to the manure. It takes about a year for the fertilizer to ripen.
The second option is to make a pile 2 times a year at once from the entire mass of manure. In spring, goat excrement cannot yet be mixed with compost, so superphosphate and soil are added to the pile.Industrial fertilizer will enrich the organic mass with nitrogen and accelerate the ripening of the pile.
The ripe mass is brought into the ground when digging a vegetable garden in spring and autumn.
Aqueous solutions
The preparation of the infusion for irrigation depends on what kind of manure will be used. In any case, it will be fresh, since it is more expedient to add humus to the soil. But "clean" goat pellets are very different in hardness from manure mixed with litter.
Litter manure is preferable because it is looser and enriched in nitrogen. It needs to be held less than just goat feces. To obtain the infusion, 1-2 days are enough.
"Clean" goat "nuts" will have to be kept in water for 7 to 10 days. In this case, there will be no nitrogen in the infusion.
In both cases, 1 part of manure must be taken for 10 parts of water. It is better to insist in a warm place so that the process goes faster. A greenhouse is well suited for this procedure.
This solution has almost no smell. For watering, the resulting infusion must be diluted additionally: add 10 liters of water per liter of fertilizer.
It is good to use goat "nuts" for the preparation of water infusion, if you manage to collect the required number of pellets
Rates and dosages of goat droppings
This is a very interesting topic, since the difference of opinion here is even greater than in the data on the chemical composition. More or less everything is clear only with the arrangement of greenhouse beds.
It is most profitable to arrange such warm beds in the northern regions of Russia. It is goat dung that has no competitors in this area. Due to its low humidity. You cannot simply mix fresh fertilizer with soil. A number of operations are provided for the device of the beds:
- first, dig a trench 0.5-0.6 m deep;
- a layer of fresh manure with a thickness of about 20 cm is placed on the bottom;
- covered with soil so that over the organic fertilizer is 30-40 cm.
Young seedlings can be planted on the finished garden bed in the greenhouse. Due to the low humidity, goat manure will not provoke the growth of mold. And due to the fact that it warms up well during decomposition, the soil in the garden bed will be warm. With this mode, the waste from under the goats will be re-milled after 1-1.5 months. By this time, the roots of the seedlings will grow to a layer of manure and receive ready-made nutrients.
There are serious disagreements about the periods and rates for applying rotted manure to open ground. Some goat breeders advise to make 5-7 kg per hundred square meters, others say that 150 is not enough. But they agree that it all depends on the method of fertilizing the soil.
When spreading over the entire site, you need at least 150 kg per hundred square meters. At the same time, it is necessary to re-fertilize after 3 years. If the norm per hundred square meters is 300-400 kg, then the period will be already 5 years.
A goat is a medium-sized creature, it does not produce a lot of manure. Therefore, gardeners often bring "goat" humus only into the holes for plants. In this case, 5-7 kg will really be enough per hundred square meters. But you will also have to fertilize every year.
There is little benefit from fertilizer poured over the soil, since the nutrient content in it decreases under the influence of natural factors
Conclusion
Goat manure for the garden is usually used only by the goat breeders themselves. Due to the small amount of waste. But in the presence of this fertilizer, it is most advisable to use it in a greenhouse. The consumption there will be relatively small, and the return is as high as possible.
