Re-cycling Chicken guts and un-wanted animal matter.

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With respect to sustainable agriculture / self sufficiency etc what can we do to recycle Chicken guts and or any meat/animal products for that matter. Feathers are ok the can go in the compost, but as I understand it meat means maggots, smell, rats, E-coli …… Traditionally the answer would have been pigs, but in the Britain, and I suspect Holland (need to check), this is against the law.

Ideally I would like to get the goodness back to the start of the chain – the soil. – as fertilizer and not some graveyard slush.

This might not seem much of a problem but 100 Christmas/ thanksgiving turkeys could prove some challenges.

Any ideas

Julian

-- Julian Young (Julian_young@nl.compuware.com), October 05, 2001

Answers

A friend of mine composted the chicken offal when she did in her flock. Knowing this I threw mine in the compost too...no critters thus far but I also buried it under weeds and garden litter to compost unseen and unsmelled. I only turn the pile maybe once or twice a year anyways so it should be all gone by spring. (I have a 3 bin system so its a 3 year wait to use the compost).

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), October 05, 2001.

Generally, you're not supposed to put meat in a compost, not only for the possible smell but also because of germs and parasites. Compost piles don't get hot enough to kill all the cooties. I don't know about the remains of a hundred birds; but when I have animals die here, sometimes I take them way out back to the swamp where I figure they'll be a meal for scavengers, bugs, etc. Yes, I know I'm helping the raccoon population, but hey, everyone needs a break once in a while.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), October 05, 2001.

We do as Shannon does--animal parts, dead found animals, etc.... are taken to a far away part of the farm for the wild animals. I think that is very sustainable.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 05, 2001.

I have a makeshift outdoor grill that I use wood in. I get the fire going hot and roast the carcasses or boil the entrails until they are done. Then I let the chickens, cats, dogs, or whatever you may have eat them.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), October 05, 2001.

We would bag all our up and take it to a man that rehabilitated wild animals. Don't know if any of you have ever heard of Bob Farner, but he was the lucky guy. He rehabilitaed coyotes and bob cats and until his cougar had to be put down for cancer, that is wehre all our rabbit left-overs would go.

I also have to agrees with the animal by-product composting being to dangerous. Too much bacteria to do any good, and you can pass some of that bad stuff through the soil, and into the things you grow.

We get trash service, and we just butcher the day before they come. Elsewise, the people who live downwind from us suffer.

-- Wendy Antes (phillips-anteswe@pendleton.usmc.mil), October 05, 2001.



Joel Salatin composts all of his chicken "leftovers". I don't raise any slaughter animals, but I do the same with all the duck, dove and squirrel bits I have. If you're worried about disease and parasites, you could boil them first.

-- Steve - TX (steve.beckman@compaq.com), October 05, 2001.

Not only does Joel successfully compost his chickens innards, he brings the offal from all his processed cattle back from the butcher to his farm in order to compost it. This is sustainable ag, a complete circle of life. Composting has to be done a little differently than your regular compost pile, but to replicate nature's biodegrading system is perfectly doable. I highly recommend his books.

You can also freeze serving-size bagsful of it and feed it to your dogs and cats. Its completey natural and very nutritious; canines and felines in the wild eat the whole animal, and they love it! (except liver, my dogs dont like raw liver!) :(

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), October 05, 2001.


We can all the unusable parts for dog food. I do not do the intestines since we don't butcher chickens we butcher goats and my BIL uses them for casings. It would also be nearly impossible to clean chicken guts and 100 butcherings is going to be quite a mound. When we were gung-ho countrysiders the pigs were always the last recycler. Placentas, euthanized baby goats, ducks, butchering parts, anything. When our hog was really large (he was as tame as could be, we raised pigs for one season, till me found out there was no money in raising the piglets yourself) we used to tease that you could eaisly get rid of anybody :) Now with Hannibal the book and movie out, seems like we weren't the only ones thinking this! LOL Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), October 05, 2001.

Just got done butchering 8 large turkeys, and I kept the livers, gizzards, hearts and necks. I boiled them all up, chopped them, put them in canning jars with some rice and broth, and pressure cooked them. I do this with my chicken parts also. My dogs love this "homemade dog food" and the vet says it is great for them. In His Grace, Sissy

-- Sissy Sylvester-Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), October 05, 2001.

You guys have to much time and energy , can I borrow some .Dog and cat food are great idea ,especially in the winter .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), October 05, 2001.


Whatever our dogs and cats won't eat, our chickens will. We've just got piggies again, so for sure nothing will go to waste around here!

As for recycling it back into the soil, once it's gone through one of our critters, they're nice enough to add it to the soil for us! Isn't that thoughtful of them?!?

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), October 05, 2001.


Here in Ontario composting is the recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture for disposing of chickens on poultry farms. We compost about 200 birds each flock with no problems. (except for dogs, so we put afence around the area)

-- Harald(Ont) (hsdmh@aol.com), October 05, 2001.

Meat scraps can be vermicomposted successfully if added with other organic matter. It will result in a higher nitrogen level of the produced humus. Predator attraction and smell can be a problem if it is not buried or maintained in an indoor bin. I regularly feed meat scraps to my worm bins in the processed slurry I use as feed to produce a richer compost, however, not in the volume that you are looking at. A good way to set up an outdoor configuration might be to dig a posthole four to five feet deep and add the meat and organic material. Cover it to keep predators out and let the worms do the work that way.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), October 05, 2001.

Around here there are lots of commericial chicken houses(hate them) and the chickens that die are incinerated. Stinks to high heaven but the bones, which are all in small pieces, are so good for plants. I'm sure it is calcium although it looks like being burned would cook it out. Guess not. Take care.

-- Faye (rcart@millry.net), October 05, 2001.

I use a post hole digger on the tractor and dig a deep hole in an out away area on the farm and dispose of the ofal in the holes, topped off with a shovel full of lime. I am not sure how long it takes for it to rot away but I have never had any problems with odor or animals digging it up. The only problem I notice is pok-a-doted green spots.

-- Mark in N.C. Fla. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), October 06, 2001.


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