Manure management for minor classes of livestock in the United States

Excerpt

Several other types of livestock are often raised in confinement in addition to the major livestock species (beef and dairy cattle, poultry and swine). These include such species as sheep, goats, horses, veal calves, and mink. A number of other species could be added to this list. While numbers of these livestock are often relatively low in comparison to those for the major species, local problems in manure handling and utilization may still arise whenever these animals are concentrated. Here we report on manure production and utilization for sheep, goats, horses, veal calves, and mink. While there are still other classes of livestock not discussed here, statistics for these are difficult to locate and their national impact is minor, as is that of several of the above species. The above five classes of livestock excrete about 120–130 thousand Mg (130–143 thousand tons) of N and 25 thousand Mg (28,000 tons) of P annually under confinement. About 60% of this is from horses and 30% from sheep. In comparison to other classes of livestock, on a national scale the problems created by these animals are small.

However, such animals as horses and mink are often located in …