I’ve also used composted goat and rabbit manure.

Until this year I did not have cows or pigs overwinter so did not have a good supply. Now I have a nice pile of both flavors!

Good tip about lazy pigs. I did read “You Can Farm” but I don’t remember him specifying the number of pigs he used. I do remember reading how he used pigs to turn bedding. That and how the chickens follow the cattle on pasture, eating the maggots from the cow pies. Excellent examples of how to get animals to do the work for you.

Horse manure has a lot of intact grass fibers left in it after it passes through the horse. Cow manure is a lot more digested with a lot more wet matter. Pig manure is also similar to cow but maybe a little bit more digested. When the hogs are out on pasture, there will be some grass or clover stems in the manure if they are on grass and clover. If they are in the turnips and forage rape they will not have as much fiber in the manure.

One horse will produce ~9 tons of manure/year if I remember correctly. The straw that comes off my field goes to a girl with 8 horses, then is returned to me. I think they bring me 2000-2500 pounds of manure (full pickup truck with manure piled up way over the cab) and straw bedding per week which is deposited on my property in 5-6′ high windrows. It takes it a couple of years to break down unless I turn it.

Regarding the number of pigs, if you read Joel Salatin’s “You Can Farm” or “Salad Bar Beef” he uses only 2 pigs to turn the cow manure, as if you add more hogs, the lazier ones will wait for the more ambitious ones to start to dig. He also spreads corn in the cow bedding so the pigs have something to root for.

As I’m going through Steve’s list now, though, I can’t seem to find this book listed. How odd. But it IS accessible through Google. Maybe I’ll drop him a line about it. Thanks for the heads up!