8 Unusual Uses for Manure Around Your Homestead

When most of us think of manure we head to the compost heap. We want to break it down and know that as a side dressing in gardens it will work wonders. But there’s more to manure than plant fertilizer. Some of the uses may surprise you. Let’s go down the list and learn more about all the things that manure can do.

How the manure is used or composted or aged before each use varies. In some instances, fresh manure is used. In others it is either allowed to dry or mixed with other materials. The biggest concern anyone would have with manure is the potential odor. The good news is that when handled properly and especially when dried, the odor is minimized if not non-existent. Let’s start with the first use.

Fuel for a Fire

This is an ancient technique practiced by cultures around the world for centuries. It was very popular in areas where firewood or other fuels for a fire were scarce. The dried manure is usually from cattle and was commonly referred to as “cow pies.” Once dried, cow pies burn long, low and slow.

However, they often need some wood or other fuel like charcoal to get started. They are not exactly flammable, but once they start to burn they just keep going. One possibility to improve combustion is a rocket stove. The draft and the combined heat will keep your dried manure burning hot and for hours.

A Decomposing Heat Source for Greenhouses

Winter is always a challenge for greenhouses. A sunny day in winter can certainly raise the temperatures but it’s the nighttime temperatures that take their toll. That’s when a simple manure compost heap with some clever piping can channel heat to a greenhouse 24/7. What’s great about manure is that it actively composts and will easily create heat in a compost heap. Here’s how the basic setup could work:

Another possibility is to simply place the compost heap in the greenhouse, but any compost heap has the potential to give off odors so an outside heap with pipes feeding the heat may be the best solution. Odors could also be a potential problem inside if the manure is fresh and has just been added to the heap. Try to keep it outside if you plan to heat your greenhouse with any kind of compost.

For a truly year-round solution, another idea is to build a small self-sufficient greenhouse. With the right setup, you can keep fresh produce and even medicinal plants growing year-round, all tucked away on your own property and out of sight from anyone passing by. I personally built one in my homestead over a single weekend following the instructions from here, and I’ve been amazed at how well it keeps producing even in the coldest months.

A Building Material Turned into Bricks

Clay and straw are the historical recipe for bricks, but when clay is scarce and straw is not available manure was often used to as an ingredient for the bricks. The standard mix was 2 parts clay to 2 parts manure to one part straw. The good news is that if straw was unavailable, the manure of cows and horses are often filled with undigested hay or straw.

What’s important is to let the manure thoroughly dry before mixing it up with the clay (and straw if you have it). Surprisingly it does not have the odor you would suspect if the bricks were allowed to fully dry in the sun for 2 weeks.

Manure bricks were often used in cob houses especially on the open prairie where trees were scarce, but cattle roamed and ranged freely across the grasslands.

If you’re reluctant to use manure bricks for a home or dwelling they can certainly work to construct a woodshed, small barn or even as a foundation for a chicken coop.

Primitive Water Sealant

Water storage was always a challenge in areas without ready access to wood or stone barrels, or when metal was simply too expensive. That’s where manure once again came into play. By mixing it with clay, people created a kind of primitive sealant that could be applied to cisterns, ponds, or even hand-dug channels and pipes.

The genius of this method is in the texture of the manure itself. The fibers from straw and undigested plant matter helped bind the clay, and when the mixture was exposed to water, it swelled and tightened, plugging small cracks and leaks. This made it especially useful for lining earthen ponds to reduce seepage, or for coating the insides of crude clay vessels meant to hold water.

It wasn’t a flawless solution. Over time, the seal would need to be patched or reapplied, and it wasn’t meant for drinking water storage unless carefully managed. But for irrigation ponds, animal troughs, or temporary cisterns, it did the job surprisingly well.

Emergency Candle/Wick Filler

In a true pinch, pioneers and homesteaders had to get creative with whatever was on hand. One surprising discovery was that finely dried manure fibers could be put to work in candle-making. When mixed with animal fat or tallow, the fibrous material acted like a natural wick or filler.

The result wasn’t a pretty candle, but it worked. The fibers soaked up the fat, allowing it to burn steadily while also slowing down the rate at which the fuel was consumed. That meant the same amount of tallow could last longer, stretching precious resources during long winters or lean times.

The process is simple: dried manure is crumbled and sifted, then packed into a small mold, anything from a tin cup to a hollowed piece of wood. Melted fat is poured over it, and once hardened, the mixture created a crude but functional light source. Some even rolled the mixture into torches when a portable light was needed outdoors.

Natural Insulation for Cold Weather

Surviving a frontier winter often came down to how well you could seal out the cold. For pioneers who lacked access to milled lumber, bricks, or enough firewood, manure once again proved its worth. Mixed with straw, it was plastered on the outside, or sometimes even the inside of cabins and barns to serve as insulation.

Once the mixture dried, it hardened into a dense, fibrous layer that blocked drafts and trapped heat. The straw gave the mix extra structure, while the manure acted as a natural binder that stuck to rough wood or logs. Families would sometimes reapply a fresh coat each fall to prepare for winter, much like whitewashing a wall.

This practice wasn’t just limited to cabins. Barns, root cellars, and even temporary shelters for livestock were sealed up the same way. The smell, once dried, was far less noticeable than you’d expect, and the payoff was a warmer interior and animals less stressed by the cold.

Interestingly, some homesteaders experimenting with natural building methods today still use similar mixes, often combining manure with clay to create earthen plasters for outbuildings. It’s proof that an old-world solution can still have a place in modern self-reliance, especially when the only thing between you and a harsh winter wind is a wall that needs sealing.

Smoke Insect Repellent

Before the days of chemical sprays and bug zappers, people turned to smoke as their first line of defense against biting insects. Dried cow or buffalo dung became a favorite fuel because it burned slowly, steadily, and produced a thick smoke that kept mosquitoes, flies, and gnats at bay.

In many rural parts of the world, dung “cakes” are still pressed, dried, and stacked for evening use. Families will burn them near doorways, outdoor gathering areas, or animal pens, creating a natural smoke screen against insects that might carry disease. Travelers on the American plains also noted that buffalo chips tossed onto the fire gave off a long-lasting smoke that helped drive bugs away from both people and livestock.

Some homesteaders take it a step further by mixing herbs such as sage, mint, or rosemary into the dried patties before burning. This not only improves the smell but adds extra insect-repelling properties to the smoke.

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Horse and cow manure also naturally repels rabbits, squirrels, raccoons and mice. The scent evokes a potential predator even though both cows and horses are herbivores. However, the manure seems to send a signal to smaller rodents and garden pests that seems to naturally deter them.

The way it works is to spread the manure around the perimeter of a garden. It will not only present a barrier to pests, but as it decomposes it will actively feed the soil.

Soap Making

Yes, it sounds strange I know, but manure even has a place in homemade soap! Before commercial detergents, early homesteaders and pioneers often made their own soaps from animal fats combined with alkaline substances. Ash from burned wood or manure can provide the lye needed for saponification, the chemical reaction that turns fat into soap.

The process is straightforward: dry manure ash is mixed with water to create lye, then combined with rendered animal fat, like tallow or lard. The mixture is carefully cooked and stirred until it solidifies into soap bars. Not only does this create a cleaning product, but the minerals in the manure ash also act as a gentle scrub, perfect for hand-washing or household cleaning.

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There are Other Possibilities

We tried to keep this simple. There are other ideas like biomass converters that extract methane from manure but that’ starting to get into rocket science. What’s good to know is that there’s more to compost than a soil amendment. Give one or two of them a try. And don’t forget to really dry those bricks.

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