The 5 years fertilization treatments also had varying and statistically significant effects on soil water content. The water content in the plots fertilized with CF alone was the lowest at both soil depths (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) (Fig. 4). It increased along with the ratio of CMC input increased, with a series being CM > NPKM3 > NPKM2 > NPKM1 > NPK. The water content in the plots only fertilized with CMC was the highest, and significantly differenced (P ≤ 0.05) with CK and NPK (Fig. 4). Application of CF alone decreased the stability of macro-aggregates and moisture retention capacity ( Celik et al., 2004 and Liu et al., 2013), however, manure application could improve the mean weight diameter of aggregates, total porosity and water holding capacity of soils ( Rasool et al., 2008 and Karami et al., 2012). Our findings clearly support that animal manure can well improve soil moisture conditions, as noteworthy and positive correlations being found between CMC input and soil water content (P ≤ 0.01) (Table 3).