A novel two‐step method is proposed to conduct the pseudo‐component model for cattle manure pyrolysis process. The weight coefficient of pseudo‐components firstly are identified accurately by Gaussian multipeak fitting method based on the DTG data of cattle manure, and then the kinetic parameters for each pseudo‐component including reaction order, activation energies (Ei) and pre‐exponential factor (Ai), are obtained by the reaction‐order mechanism function and Coats‐Redfern method. The results showed that the decomposition process of cattle manure should be characterized by five pseudo‐components (extractives, hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, and volatilizable carbonaceous materials). The corresponding reaction orders were 1.6, 1.8, 1.9, 1.3, and 1.8, respectively. The Ei were ranged from 42.54 to 527.02 kJ mol−1 for five pseudo‐components. The pseudo‐component model coupled with multipeak Gaussian fitting could describe the kinetic process of cattle manure decomposition very well, and provide useful data for the design of a thermal decomposition processing system and the kinetic analysis of pyrolysis process of other solid wastes. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1618–1625, 2018