I've been composting Mingus Magic for 6 years now, and have of course added Thelonius Turds, Flash Flower Power and Scarlet Scat!
When we lived in Portland, I had about 1/4 acre in gardens. All were raised beds starting with heavy cardboard laid down over the ground, then covered with alternating layers of manure, yard and kitchen compost, and newspaper. Oregon has very heavy clay soil, but my garden beds were rich, black and the envy of my family and friennds (well...those who gardened, anyway).
You do want to be careful to age your compost before using it on vegetable beds, just to be safe, but on ornamental beds I use the manure at all stages. Some plants are more sensitive, but others, like irises, love it straight from the horse.
For existing beds, since I mostly grow perennials, flowering shrubs and small, ornamental trees, I like to use aged manure as a top dressing, so that people aren't seeing turds amongst the plants.
For a real plant treat, I'll sometimes make a very concentrated manure tea by soaking manure in water and pouring it right over the plant and down to its base. I horrified our little neighbor girl by telling her I was having a tea party!
Since moving out to the country, I haven't had the time to really get my garden where it was in town. These days we pile the manure in back corners, cover it to keep weed seeds from growing, and let time do its work. After aging, the stuff is veritable black gold.
I also like composting a small amount of bedding (pellet) with the manure. The wood helps to aerate the soil and keeps it loose and friable even in late fall and early spring, when the native clay becomes the stuff pottery is made of.