Composting deer corn gone bad?

I have a few bags of deer corn that had bugs, we killed them with heat, but the result does not look healthy for deer. Some kernels are black and bug detritus is evident.

So I plan to spread it on our biggest mulch pile, layer some hot compost on top, and let it overwinter. Change my mind if you disagree.

Not so much "disagreeing" as "brainstorming". That's the kind of stuff I love making biochar out of. Because of the size of the pieces, it doesn't need ground up after charring. And there's no way any bug or disease will survive that process.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:Not so much "disagreeing" as "brainstorming". That's the kind of stuff I love making biochar out of. Because of the size of the pieces, it doesn't need ground up after charring. And there's no way any bug or disease will survive that process.

Excellent suggestion! We have a whole forum on biochar here: https://permies.com/f/190/biochar  and there are some easy ways to make it in small quantities and it helps to hold carbon in the soil.

My concern about your idea Reno is that it will attract mice and rats. They can be an asset if you want your mulch pile aerated for you, but a liability if they get into buildings or car engine compartments and start chewing on the wires. Location is everything!

Actually, if you're going to try composting, I'd try putting hot compost under it and on top. When I have to bury a dead animal, I try to make sure it is surrounded by stuff live animals don't like to discourage them from digging through the yucky stuff to get to the good stuff.

How sure are you that the deer corn isn't full of glyphosate? That risk would also lean me towards either biochar or mushrooms. I've not heard of using corn as mushroom substrate, but mushrooms seem to be willing to eat just about anything. I'd be looking at mycelium growth rather than edible mushrooms in this case.

Either way, I'm really glad you're dealing with this problem in a positive way rather than just sending it to the landfill where it will do no good at all.

all good ideas so far.
Another idea might be to try sprouting some-- if it sprouts and your climate permits in terms of rain (and it could be useful), throw it somewhere and let it grow. I had some buggy popcorn this year and did that and got to use it as fodder for the rabbits (the foliage, i didn't let it get big enough to head up), or it could make extra mulch material.

We had 50kg of wheat that got bugs and mildew in it, we just threw it out onto the field, some sprouted some rotted some was eaten by whatever wanted it. it didn't take long to vanish. The field was a very wet mixture of grass rushes and some reeds but I doubt it really matters what is growing there!