Who out there puts dead animals in their compost. Or just left over chicken scraps. I have now put ten whole chickens and an opossum in my compost. What are y’all’s thoughts on the topic of meat in the compost.
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I was going to say, “Rent a wood chipper and walk the whole farm in there.” but I determined it was in bad taste to say such a thing so I won’t. Happy Thanksgiving @lacombe82 !
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Well see the chickens were to stupid to go back into the coop and they all froze to death. So I put them in the compost last year just as they were. I dumped a couple shovels of wood chips on top and a couple dozen worms. Then my cat and a opossum got into it so I shot the opossum and put it in the compost as well. This was all last winter around the same time. So this summer after a lot of mixing water and worms I have a pretty black rich mix of shit. I have not had a problem with any of my other plants. So my next grow is going to be a living soil mix with just the stuff I have in the yard already. I am pretty sure I have everything for a great living soil.
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Cool topic and something my partner and me were looking at in a documentary. I tend to keep stay away from animals in the compost due to our dogs, pigs and chickens digging it up., fighting over the scraps and getting sick But watching a documentary the other night about how some farmers compost an entire cattle carcass made me wonder. It just does not sit right with me though. I generally only throw fish waste into the compost, but that also drives animals straight to the heap. So prefer digging pre season holes, adding the fish waste and covering them up. I dont think anything wrong with it, but you have to do it right, covered, water moisture and lots of heat for the composting to kick in.
We used to compost pigs, but ended up being better to burn them rather.
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See I was doing some internet surfing a while ago and came across Va’s road kill compost research. I was brought up you don’t through meat or dairy in the compost. So my brother and I have the argument if it’s good or not. I’m for it he’s against it (stuck in old ways). Va gets the large scale composting equipment from a company in North Carolina called Act. (Advanced composting technology).
They have been helping the hog farmers get rid of their waste for a while now. But I’m just a little old guy with a little garden and some trees. I have a 4x4x4 chicken wire compost area that I build to keep the animals out so I figured why not just throw everything in the pile. And so far I love the return. I really need to get into more of the science of it and find the actual brake down of nuts in the pile. Here are just a few articles I have run across that I have bookmarked.
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/trnews/trnews302rpo.pdf
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My take is if you allow Mother nature to do it, as in with meat eating maggots from flies and other insects, the meat gets broken down by enzymes from the insects it’s ok, just putting them in and covering them up not so much. There is lots of discussion on the transmission of disease pathogens from animals, but I think that a completely composted carcass is pretty pathogen free.
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Dont underestimate the little old guy, like you. Sounds like a perfect setup you have going. Chickens are the composters of nature. We always have our chickens in the compost heap, the literally turn the compost for us.
The other thing about animals is for example we had to inject all our pigs today with some chemical Ivermax for worms. Plus they get other injections throughout their lifecycle, so its something I would be worried about, and possibly transferable.
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Yes the vaccines I would be worried about also but we don’t vaccinate our animals. So I don’t have that part to worry about. I don’t let live animals in my compost. The only living stuff is the worms microorganisms and bacteria
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Seen a video of a guy that grows tomatoes and raises a few chickens. His tomatoes are grown above ground in 2’-3’ high enclosures. He buries his whole chickens under a foot of soil directly in his raised gardens. Let’s the worms do their thing and just feeds and waters the soil normally. He gets prized tomato crops where the chickens were buried and never had an issue.
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Hey buddy Sonu need to very careful when u do that and no matter what animal it is you want to dismember and check the liver and kidneys for sign of infection before adding it to ur composy
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Do you have a link to that video buddy. I would love to see it if not I will google it I’m sure I can find it after a few hours.
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Thank you for the input. I honestly didn’t think of that because I have never really slathered them. Just really put them in there whole minus the bullet hole that was in the opossum.
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Sorry I dont. Was YouTube surfing.
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I’ve thrown a couple bodies in my compost and the plants turned out to be assholes also. Just saying!
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Assholes as in they didn’t do well or assholes in like the end product did you in. Haha
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My Uncle has tought my whole family how to safely eat road kill if necessary being homeless sucks so
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Dude I’m with you if I have to I will eat it in a heart beat depending on how old it is.
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I could tell u a little big about ageing meet and what’s safe bacteria and what’s not if u ever Wana gab sometime my uncle’s a butcher and hunter and works for the state of NY fish and game he’s one of there top dogs for their gun clubs we scattered around the northern apalachas
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Unless u already know to to assume u don’t my bad not trying to come off as a dick
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Nope that would be awesome. I already have one bad bacteria in my system that the docs can’t seem to kill.
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