Abstract: Moisture removal is very important for management of animal manure.The investigation was conducted with a view to determining effect of composting methods on fermentaion and dehydration of animal manure.The results show that with addition of 100 g·kg ^-1 of rice straws, the composting pile had a higher temperature for 5 days,but a lower dehydration rate than the treatment with addition of only 50 g·kg ^-1 of rice straws. Plastic cover of the pile also decreased its dehydration rate. In the treatment of split addition of materials, the moisture content in the pile has dropped from 520 g·kg ^-1 down to 503 g·kg ^-1 for 12 days, while in the treatment of once-for-all addition of materials, it was 554 g·kg ^-1.

Key words: animal manure, compost, dehydration, amendment, cover, method of material addition