Worm Ranch Tragedy
The Red Wriggler Teaching Manual was written by Ellen Heath, a professional writer, with the help of sister Kate Heath, owner of the High Desert Worm Ranch in Tajique, New Mexico. Kate, whose primary business is software consulting, had been raising worms since 2001 and had 25 beds under 6,000 square feet of cover. At the end of June, Kate had to shut down her operation for reasons that will be instructive to anyone composting horse manure with red worms.
Worm populations began to fall off radically in the early spring. We monitored everything--
temperature, moisture levels, pH readings, food volumes, etc. We finally had to conclude that horse manure from a horse breeder had been inadvertently contaminated with pharmaceuticals used to "worm" horses. Due to pressing demands on her time, Kate decided simply to suspend operations for the time being.
Our brother, Dr. Wiley Heath, a veterinarian in El Paso, Texas, provided some information that will be helpful to anyone else using horse manure as a composting material. He said that veterinarians advise horse owners to worm young horses (two years old or less) every 60 days and older horses every three months. A variety of pharmaceuticals can be used, but they take about two days to go through a horse's system. To be safe, do not use any manure from "wormed" horses until you are sure the medication has completely cleared their systems--at least a week and possibly even more.
Kate's experience with the worms is sad, and it is also indicative of the ways in which our heavy use of pharmaceuticals in both creatures and animals is contaminating both water and soil. We hope you can benefit from something she learned the hard way.
Worm populations began to fall off radically in the early spring. We monitored everything--
temperature, moisture levels, pH readings, food volumes, etc. We finally had to conclude that horse manure from a horse breeder had been inadvertently contaminated with pharmaceuticals used to "worm" horses. Due to pressing demands on her time, Kate decided simply to suspend operations for the time being.
Our brother, Dr. Wiley Heath, a veterinarian in El Paso, Texas, provided some information that will be helpful to anyone else using horse manure as a composting material. He said that veterinarians advise horse owners to worm young horses (two years old or less) every 60 days and older horses every three months. A variety of pharmaceuticals can be used, but they take about two days to go through a horse's system. To be safe, do not use any manure from "wormed" horses until you are sure the medication has completely cleared their systems--at least a week and possibly even more.
Kate's experience with the worms is sad, and it is also indicative of the ways in which our heavy use of pharmaceuticals in both creatures and animals is contaminating both water and soil. We hope you can benefit from something she learned the hard way.
