Manure Monopoly

Meet Bill, our shy little cart pony! 

Now meet Bill’s “black gold"....

Just kiddin'.  Ha!  We all know what pony pooey looks like.  If you don’t, just Google it.  On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t.... well, at least not if you happen to be eating!

Anyway, Bill is a real sweetheart – he loves to get hugs and kisses.  But he can also be as high as a cat's back (expensive)!  Every month we have to feed Bill hay and make sure he gets a good hoof trimming and deworming.  One great thing about Bill, though, is that he can help pay for his own upkeep by providing us with manure a.k.a. black gold.  Take a gander at my figures below:

• Compost manure is usually about $3 (give or take) per bag by my research. 
• So if I bought 20 bags of compost manure it would cost me around $60.   
• This is for just one month in a few floating garden beds.  I will use lots more manure throughout the year!  
• What does Bill cost per month?  Roughly $30 (hay) + $20 (hooves) + $5 (dewormer) = $55!  That puts us in the green for this month, considering how much manure we have used.

Here is a garden bed we just added some manure to:

Next month as the spring grasses start sproutin' up, we will allow Bill short periods of time out on the dog yard to keep the length down so hubby won’t have to mow as much.  (You must be careful about letting ponies out for too long on very green grasses, it can be dangerous!  More on that later.)  I know less time mowing is as good as money to hubby, so that is how Bill will “pay for himself” throughout the spring and summer months.   And of course all the while, we will be storing up more of his manure for compost that we will need later this year and next year.   I will keep y'all updated on our costs and expenses! 

How do you use your pets, animals, and livestock to pay for their own upkeep?  I’d love to hear your feedback!