Pig Poo

[thoongfoned]

hi i would like some help/advise in how to turn pig poo into good fertilizer/manure ect....... call it what you want.

we collect the poo "dry" from the pigs (collected from pig housing floor) this then gets put out in the sun. at present i let the poo sit in the sun for around 15-20 days. then put into bags.

i have been told to then mix this with the rice husk and water. leave again for awhile then boom good fertilizer???

i want the poo to go on my rubber trees. in the past we have always just dug in dry cow poo. now we have alot more pig poo then we have ever had cow poo, so i thought it was time i learnt how to make the most of what we have on offer.

thanks in advance , sorry if its been covered before...............

[WatersEdge]

Just put it on the trees already.

A large portion of the Nitrogen in hog waste is Ammonia in the urine.

When dried in the sun, this evaporates and is lost.

Ammonia at room temperature is a gas.

but it also has a large ability to dissolve in water.

At room temperature the mixture is 30% Ammonia 70% Water.

If the Ammonia is kept in contact with water,

it will remain available to plants along with the water.

So the most effective way to make Nitrogen available to plants is to bury it in wet ground.

The Phosphorous and Potassium is not air volatile.

Drying does not decrease their content.

Potassium in its various chemical compositions is water soluble,

Phosphorous in the form of Phosphoric Acid is water soluble as well.

Since hog waste is acidic, most of the Phosphorous is in Phosphoric Acid.

If animal waste is left exposed to rain, both P and K will be washed into the ground

Dealing with wet waste is a heavy and stinky job.

If you can mix it into slurry,

then distribute it to the trees, allowing the water to percolate into the soil around the trees,

you lose very little of the nutrients.

The possible concern is that excessive Nitrogen will burn the plants.

Trees are durable in this because their roots are deep in the soil.

Plants with roots near the surface are more susceptible to nitrogen burning.

It's always a balance of saving the nutrients, delivering them to the roots, but not harming the plant.

I cleaned my hog barn into a gutter,

which was then flushed directly to the fields

Because there was a lot of water to dilute at it carried the waste,

there was no nitrogen burn.

You mention mixing with Rice Hull.

This consume Ammonia as bacteria feeding on the Ammonia also serve to degrade the Cellulose in the rice hull.

So rice hull does limit the danger of nitrogen burning,

but it doesn't help the plant get available fertilizer.

Rice Hull and Wheat Straw are very effective Ammonia filters for fish farms.

I read a research paper on this, which said

a high 90's percent of Ammonia in fish water was removed

when pumped through a packed bed of rice hull or wheat straw

Trees require Potassium for their physical structure,

which is the same mechanism as in field crop plants.

Potassium is also important in the creation of proteins.

Phosphorous fosters root growth and blossoming.

Nitrogen is responsble for green foliage growth and also in the production of protein

This is a very simplistic summary, because there is crossover in the functions listed,

so understand it for incomplete as it is.

We have a regular contributing member whose screen name shows his connection to trees.

Maybe he has something to say.

I'm coming from the hog barn to field experience.

I cringe when I see perfectly good animal waste in a pile out in the open air.

By the time it is dried, then rained on, it's not actually worth much,

yet it is highly prized for the scant value that remains.

One farmer lamented that he gets more for his cow manure than for his bananas.

[sezze]

Just put it on the trees already.

A large portion of the Nitrogen in hog waste is Ammonia in the urine.

When dried in the sun, this evaporates and is lost.

Ammonia at room temperature is a gas.

but it also has a large ability to dissolve in water.

At room temperature the mixture is 30% Ammonia 70% Water.

If the Ammonia is kept in contact with water,

I doubt this very very much . I never looked at the properties of pig urine but 30% ammonia is highly unlikely as this would kill just about anything living on this planet and would give you serious burnwounds when in contact . Only the smell of 30% ammonia mixture is lethal , and would burn your eyes and lungs ( for life , not just for a minute ) . 30% ammonia means you cannot breath , and i mean this litteraly , you just cannot as your lungs/troat collapses . I know it because i was in a cloud of a 30% ammonia mixture escaping and i was very lucky to reach a save zone within 50m ( 50 m further i wouldn't have made it ) . ( yes i do work at a chem plant where ammonia is part of the processing chain ) .

You probably mean , and i am not sure , urea . With is a pretty harmless ammonia salt and is widely spread in urine ( hence the chemical name urea ... ) Traces of ammonia would be present in the urine but this is probably less then 1% of the solution .

I'm not meaning to lecture , but people have to know about some chemicals as sometimes they think because they are common that they are save . You would not be able as a private person to buy 30% mixtures of ammonia , but even the widely spread standard ammonia solution is 12% and would cause damage when used uncorrect .

[SuperGers]

Pig Poo is highly sought after by many Thai's.

We have about 100 pigs and the poo is collected daily. Our's is dried in the Sun for 1 or 2 days before being bagging up . It has the consistancy or damp sawdust and is not mixed with anything. It's then ready to use for crops or trees etc. Each bag contains about 40 kg and sells for THB 50.

A very lucrative by-product of pig production. We don't have enough to go round and have a "waiting list" of buyers.

I don't know about the chemical make up of it though.