Compost query.

[Artychoke]

I use wood pellet cat litter and wonder whether I can put this- minus the cat poo solids- on the compost heap. Has anyone tried this?


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[Two_Sheds]

Yes, you can.

I compost dog poops at home, but the resulting compost goes on flower beds, not on edible crops.
It seems crazy to me that we are putting a biodegradable product (poop) into plastic bags in landfill, and using fuel to truck it from bins to the landfill. Crazy.

[Bill HH]

When you consider the amount of animal poo some gardens get (particularly cats) then it seems like shutting the stable door once the horse (or cat) has bolted not to use it yourself on the garden. I dont compost our doggy do's because my wife objects, but I would have no objections otherwise.

[sammy_roser]

You can't use it on edible crops but otherwise it would be fine.

[Kaiya]

It's all due to risk of parasite infection. The life cycle of many parasites goes "eggs get eaten by herbivore -> immature worms lodge in muscles of herbivore -> get eaten by carnivore -> mature in carnivore -> eggs get pooped out onto grass by carnivore -> eggs get eaten by herbivore" with various life stages occurring at each point. We non-herbivores confuse the immature parasites looking for somewhere to lodge, and so they potentially do so in random places causing problems e.g blindness if they lodge in the retina. That's why you shouldn't use composted predator poo on food, but herbivore poo (which contains a different life stage of the parasite) is fine.

Thanks for asking an interesting question, as filling landfill with bags of cat poo was bothering me.

[Two_Sheds]

^ While the risk of zoonotic infection is there, you have to put it in perspective, and we shouldn't be terrified of poo. For example, there are on average only 3 cases per year of toxocara infection in UK people.

- we see dog poo everywhere, it isn't cleared up (until the slugs eat it)
- ditto cats, which are even dirtier because they hide it in flower beds & veg plots
- it's possible to catch e-Coli and salmonella from chickens, horsemuck etc, but we chuck that on our veg plots with gay abandon
- young children put all kind of things in their mouths
- we pee & poo in our drinking water, and just trust that once it's flushed it comes back clean
- some people put animal poo down the toilet (and therefore into our drinking water)


Transmission is usually through the mouth and/or nose, so to keep yourself & your family safe, wash hands frequently, with soap & hot water, esp. before eating. And don't eat compost.

[Kristen]

I use, and handle, manure (cow / horse) without a second thought.

But for some reason (evolution maybe?) dog poo revolts me, so I can't see me adopting it for composting. Sad though, as our two Goldens produce a plentiful supply!

[Bill HH]

There is a saying that you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die. (A peck is two gallons) Whilst i am all for hygiene i cant help wondering if we arent getting just a little hung up on all this cleanliness. Our bodies immune system needs the constant challenge of infections in order to build up resistence to disease. I often remeber when I was farming and mucking out cattle sheds I,would tuck into my sandwitch with hands covered in manure, our food was handled by shopkeepers without gloves, they blew into the bag to open it etc. I am still here.

[Kristen]

I am still here.

and have probably never suffered from any of the allergies that so commonly effect the Youf! of today??

[Bill HH]

I have a slight allergy to local council officials.

[marchogaeth]

I use wood pellet cat litter and wonder whether I can put this- minus the cat poo solids- on the compost heap. Has anyone tried this?

I'm not arguing with TS who has the whole composting thing sorted, I just want to say that in my experience, even in an active bin, the wood can take a long time to break down. In the end, I used to take the poo out, bag the wood and burn it on our wood burner (too expensive to waste!).

[Kristen]

I have a slight allergy to local council officials.

Different sort of dirt, to what you are used to?

[Bill HH]

I'm not arguing with TS who has the whole composting thing sorted, I just want to say that in my experience, even in an active bin, the wood can take a long time to break down. In the end, I used to take the poo out, bag the wood and burn it on our wood burner (too expensive to waste!).

Doesnt that stink? we used to have a lot of cats on the farm and despite having 200 acres to poop in they chose our coke pile. If any got into the aga we had to evacuate the kitchen.

[Two_Sheds]

even in an active bin, the wood can take a long time to break down.

Yes it does, but I don't see any reason to hurry it. It takes as long as it takes.
I've just turned the school daleks, they were very dry and still full of small branches and old sprout stalks. I just chucked them back in the new daleks, and watered them.