How do you make compost from cat and dog manure?
John from Concho, AZ
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You can't. Compost is made from plants material. Bones, meat, eggs (egg shells are okay), cheese, and other dairy products or oils should be thrown in the garbage. Excrement from dogs and cats should also be kept out.
It isn't recommended to compost dog and cat waste because of the parasites that can be present in the feces. That would be unsafe for vegetables, to say the least.
You can put pet poo in a worm farm, but if your dog/cat is on worm medication this will kill the earthworms too.
A worm farm is a great way to compost.
I wouldn't put pet waste in a compost pile because it may not heat up enough to destroy harmful organisms. There is a "composting" system that is put in the ground and a starter is added to breakdown the waste.
No poopy in composts! Period! Cat and dog poopy can indeed contain parasites that aren't even safe to use as a regular manure like you can with cow or chicken poopy!
There's something that you can buy that has a lid and is installed over a hole in the ground. You put something in it to break down the animal waste that you add as you clean your yard. It "composts" or breaks down the waste, but you cannot/should not use the matter as compost for plants.
Anything that eats meat, their poop is trash.
I've been reading a lot about composting lately, having just started some myself. Fecal matter from herbivores only. Never include that which comes from a carnivore.
You don't! Remember the illnesses that people got from eating raw green onions, or raw tomatoes, or fresh salsa? People in different areas of our country became ill. The source turned out to be one central packing facility.
This illness was tracked back to farms that did not have good sanitation in their fields. They watered the fields with water that had been contaminated by cows using the pond as a bathroom, or even by their own workers relieving themselves in the fields. In some cases, the main water plant was emptying raw sewage into the river, which was the main source of water for the entire area.
Please don't use pet waste in your compost. You can pick it up with a shovel, and dispose of it, if it is a problem in your yard.
The correct way to use pet or human manure in compost is explained in detail in Jenkins' book Humanure. It is not difficult, but cannot be done carelessly, American-style.
There are two ways that I can think of that you can do it. Neither one are cheap.
First, this machine will do it:
www.naturemill.com/
Also, a composting toilet will handle pet waste the same way it would handle human waste. I'm not sure what it would do with kitty litter.
Neither one of these options are as carefree as dumping the waste in a pile and letting nature take its course. Even with some composting toilets, you do have to monitor how hot you get the matter and for how long in order to kill off e-coli and other microbes prone to humans. Pet waste would be handled in the same manner.
I do wonder if it is theoretically possible to remove the danger of pet-born worms and diseases by letting the waste cure or dry in the sun before adding it to a typical compost pile.
Cow, chicken and as another poster said "herbivore" animals' waste is fine. In fact most compost sites recommend adding manure to the pile to get it going. Also, it is pretty standard for farms to use cattle waste runoff to fertilize fields. What I believe made everyone sick is people trying to use human waste that was improperly composted as a fertilizer.
You can dig a hole and bury it. It will break down over time and will be good fertilizer for ornamental plants. I wouldn't use it for edibles because of the reasons listed above. I know a guy who always threw his dog's droppings in one corner of the yard. Long after the dog was gone, he planted irises in the spot and they grew HUGE with tons of flowers.
I wouldn't do it, not just because of the parasites, et al, but because it is likely to attract buddies, and before long, your yard is the community petty pottie. Yuck. I personally don't find it amusing when I'm planting, to find cat or dog feces on my gloves. Which, by the way, is why I ALWAYS wear gloves now!
Don't forget, you can toss dryer lint in that compost pile as well!
Good luck!
Any living thing that eats meat, their waste should not go in the compost pile! If really want to learn about compost, go to "organicgardening.com" You do not have be "organic" to love this site!
Composters has a lot of pet waste composting products. Some are a little pricey, but it's a good start, even if just for ideas.
www.composters.com/
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