Talking Mucky

Many people know that spreading muck on your ground is good for it, but very few know how it works, and the idea of this short piece is to understand in simple terms how muck works and when it should be applied as so many people do more damage than good spreading muck.

There are many types of muck, horse, cattle, chicken and other bird, and yes, even human muck, and they are all good for your garden if they are used correctly.

Muck works in the same way, irrespective of type, and this is when its spread it contains something commonly called muck worm and as its name suggests it is actually a worm. Muck worms live in the muck and when it is spread it usually clumps and these clumps contain the worms, when they are in a large pile prior to application the worms burrow into it because it is warm and they can regenerate; when it is spread the pile becomes a clump and loses a lot of its heat and the worms burrow down out of the muck and into your soil. As worms burrow they leave tiny holes, and as they eat their way through the ground they process the soil and this introduces their waste into it which is excellent news for the gardener, also, the holes they leave while burrowing leaves a route for the goodness from the muck to find itself a way deeper into the soil, and when the muck becomes wet from rain or morning dew its goodness washes down into the soil and nourishes it.

Muck actually has a pecking order and the best muck by far is chicken muck as it contains the most nutrients, the downsides are that continual exposure to it can cause breathing issues for some people, the lack of any quantities of it, and the fact it has to be stored for around 5 years before use.

Human muck is available from sewage plants and it is generally free apart from delivery costs and is an excellent muck but it does stink, also, the human body cannot digest tomato seeds so you always get a crop of tomatoes growing on the top of it.

Cattle and horse muck are the most common types of muck due to amount the large animals produce, it is cheap and readily available in most places and if you collect it you can often get it for free.

There is actually a correct way of selecting and using muck as the main types of muck, which is cattle and horse muck has to contain a balance of muck content and straw content and the simple rule is not to get these types of muck with too high a straw content, and to leave it for two years before using it.
Human muck is a processed muck and contains no straw and as a processed muck it is best left for 1 year before using.

Chicken muck also contains no straw but may contain wood chips or sawdust and needs leaving for around 5 years before using.

Muck is left because it has to begin to break down before use and if you use fresh muck it actually burns the roots of most seedlings and kills the plants you plant in the soil containing it, and it may contain some contaminants or residues from animals fed on commercial feeds containing many of the hormones they use in the foods to build body weight, particularly in beef cattle as they are sold by weight, standing it in the open allows the rain to literally wash it and as it dries the rain evaporates and removes any residues and they evaporate into the air. With chicken muck the timber content from the wood chips or sawdust begin to rot and this does the same as the rain and cleans it.

Hi assassin, are you aware of any studies that show how much of the anti biotics & other crap which are increasingly used in livestock these days remain in the muck ? Its just something I am mindful of these days.Also the effects of GMO feed. For example I travel 8 miles for non GMO chicken feed instead of buying in our village where its labeled as may contain GMOs .

There have been studies but they appear to show that most of them are absorbed by the beast and are not contained in the muck in any quantities, further studies suggest that by standing it cleans out these low levels of contaminants but there is nothing of any real substance to prove or disprove this.
Most of the supplements such as hormones are designed to be absorbed by the animals to increase their bulk so I would conclude that very little, if any are in the muck.

If you are unsure then stick with your current place.