Lessons learned from chickens

[Downthestretch55]

Manure

Seems to me that wherever there are animals roaming aroung, lots of manure gets spread.
All farms have a time of the day devoted to dealing with it.
Some days, there's more of it than others.
Actually, manure can be quite helpful. If put back on the fields, the crops grow nicely. But if it builds up, it makes a huge mess that needs special attention.
One spring I was working on a black angus farm. The cows and heifers had been cooped up all winter inside the barn, and the guy that was supposed to deal with it just let it build up. By the time I showed up for my first day on the job, those poor critters were deep into it. It was close to the top of my barn boots, and frankly, I didn't have the strength to do much more than turn them out and go back to the farmhouse and call a friend that had a bull dozer.
He came that afternoon and pushed it all out into a great big pile.
His bill was almost as huge as the pile.
Now don't get me wrong. Manure can be good. There's all kinds.
Chicken is nasty. Hog's isn't much better. Sheep's is hot. Rabbit's is ok but tends to take on ammonia smells if it's left too long.
Horse's is a lot easier to handle than cows.
Heck, there always seems to be more than enough manure. It's best to not let it build up. Watch where you step. And at all times, consider the source.
It's all different. Though somehow it tells my sniffer that it pretty much smells the same.