Manure—Organic Fertilizer Can't
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Manures improve soil's fertility by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that is trapped by bacteria in the manure.

Higher organisms then feed on the fungi and bacteria that feed on the manure. At the same time, plants take up available nutrients that they need.

These actions are all part of the chain of life that is the soil food web.

Animal manure refers to the feces—droppings or dung—of plant-eating (herbivorous) mammals (cows, horses, sheep and goats), pigs (which are omnivores), and poultry (while not precisely omnivores, they do eat a wide range of items, including plant matter and insects).

When used as fertilizer, manures often include plant material (usually straw) that has been used as barn bedding for animals. The mixture of high carbon matter (the bedding) and the high nitrogen matter (the feces and urine) results in a potent fertilizer.

Uses of Manure

Manure has been used for centuries as a farm fertilizer, as it is rich in nitrogen and other nutrients which facilitate the growth of plants.

Due to its unpleasant odors, liquid manure from pig/hog operations is usually knifed (injected) directly into the soil to reduce the unpleasant odors.

However, don't use pig manure on your organic gardens. Hog operations these days require high doses of antibiotics and a lot of chemicals in the barns themselves to keep the pigs healthy enough to stay alive. You don't want their manure in your gardens.

Manure from cattle is spread on fields using a spreader. Due to the relatively lower level of proteins in grasses, which herbivores eat, cattle manure has a milder smell than the dung of carnivores—for example, elephant dung is practically odorless.

Due to the quantity of manure applied to fields, odor can be a problem in some agricultural regions. But it won't be a problem in the small quantities you're likely to use around the home, especially if it's well composted.

Fresh poultry droppings will harm plants due to the very high nitrogen levels in them, but after a period of composting they become an excellent fertilizer.

Precautions

Manure generates heat as it decomposes, especially if it's very high in nitrogen, and it is not unheard of for manure to spontaneously ignite if it's stored in a massive pile. Once such a large pile of manure is burning, it will foul the air over a very large area and require considerable effort to extinguish.

If you're composting fresh manure, ensure that it's turned regularly (once or twice a day is best, at least until the temperature starts to go down).

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