Any reason why I shouldn’t add “Dog Eggs” when composting Ruth Stout style?

I can’t think of any myself. They’re a resource and this to me seems like a sensible disposal method.

Hi Edward,
I'm assuming you are referring to dog manure vs a chicken egg that is not good enough for human consumption?

I am not familiar with Ruth's composting method, and I am not expert in composting in general. My only question would be does it get really hot? I remember all the warnings that you have to be more careful with omnivore manure than herbivore manure, and the most careful with carnivore manure. Something about pathogens and diseases, and making sure it gets hot enough to kill them?

Hi Matt - yes, dog manure. Ruth Stout method is burying kitchen scraps under mulch. Here’s the PEP badge that describes it in a bit more detail:
Ruth Stout style composting Badge Bit

As it’s buried, in my case, under a deep layer of wood chip, it’s not going to be handled, like traditional compost. I also have a no dig garden. So I’m thinking pathogens shouldn’t be a problem as it’s never going to be handled or brought to the surface.

I would personally be leery of using it in a vegetable garden, even more so with root vegetables. However, only some of the dog manure is contaminated with things that could be an issue, so the risk is primarily with manure from dogs who are sick or on a poor diet (probably not your case). Combine that with being "processed" by a healthy soil system; and then anything surviving that would need to stick to a vegetable, survive cleaning and possible cooking... I think the likelihood of anything reaching the human body is probably pretty small.

Composting dog manure is a good thing.

Like Matt said, away from the vegetables.

I assume your idea is to just dig a hole where the poop lands which I feel is not the best idea.

My suggestion would be to pick an unused corner of the yard to make the poop graveyard.  One that will never be used as a vegetable garden.

Mr. Google said it takes 9 weeks for dog poop to break down and up to a year for it to fully decompose.

As long as I am dealing with my own dog's poop I would not be too worried about handling the poop. I just have not come to terms of using it for fertilizer.

I've put dog poop in hugels for years. There's always at least a foot or so of material on top, and I don't plant any root vegetables in that section for a couple years, so there's no chance of poop getting pulled up to the surface during harvesting. Also cause poopy potatoes = yuck in my mind. As long as there's no chance of fecal matter splashing up on anything you're going to be eating raw, I think it's fine. I'd go a step further and say it shouldn't get on anything you're going to be eating raw or cooked, but that's probably a matter of your own ick factor.  If I don't have any garden beds being made, I put it around the base of fruit trees, with a layer of mulch on top. If the trees are all taken care of, I put it in my humanure bin.

My grandfather spent time as a child in a Japanese POW camp in Indonesia. Everyone there had gardens cause they weren't fed enough. The woman with the best, most productive garden was the woman who went around the camp gathering up all the dog poop to use.

For health and safety reasons, dog doo does not come anywhere near my vegetable crops, above or below ground.

Dogs can carry zoonotic diseases and parasites. I think there are too many uncontrolled variables in a composting setup to ensure these are destroyed.

I would absolutely use dog doo when planting trees, though. When I accidentally dig into an old dog doo disposal pit, it is holding moisture when the surrounding sandy soil is dust.

On a different thread, someone built a vermicomposting system that processed the whole house sewage.  And it was my impression the whole situation was odor free, no ick factor and created pristine end product.  

Once assembled it wouldn’t be any more work than Stout’s method.

Thank you all! I’ve had “dog egg” disposal on my thinking list for months. The old me would have bagged and binned. If we can make willow candy them surely animal waste, even from an omnivore can find a place in permie system. I will now start pits where I’ll be planting trees, fruit bushes and other plants that don’t require digging up, lifting or harvesting at ground level. And I have plenty of chip for mulching.

Edward Norton wrote:Thank you all! I’ve had “dog egg” disposal on my thinking list for months. The old me would have bagged and binned. If we can make willow candy them surely animal waste, even from an omnivore can find a place in permie system. I will now start pits where I’ll be planting trees, fruit bushes and other plants that don’t require digging up, lifting or harvesting at ground level. And I have plenty of chip for mulching.

Long ago, I graded papers for a college professor.  I still remember a most interesting answer.

The woman was describing a product called a “doggie dooley”.

It was an inground disposal system.  On the surface of the soil was what looked like a smallish trash can lid.  When removed, there was a pit maybe with a trash can as a liner.  Maybe no bottom, maybe holes drilled in the sides, lower half.

She said they took the lid off to deposit the dog poop, replaced the lid.  When you  have all your trees planted, maybe you could make a similar contraption in a convenient location.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:It was an inground disposal system.  On the surface of the soil was what looked like a smallish trash can lid.  When removed, there was a pit maybe with a trash can as a liner.  Maybe no bottom, maybe holes drilled in the sides, lower half.

She said they took the lid off to deposit the dog poop, replaced the lid.  When you  have all your trees planted, maybe you could make a similar contraption in a convenient location.

Aside:

That's exactly what we do for bones, dead squirrels, rancid fats. No need to landfill this stuff; nature will process it.

It has a small barrel as the sleeve (open top and bottom), and a  fitted (but ventilated) steel cover weighed down with a big concrete slab so the dogs (and coyotes etc.) can't get into it. When I open the cover, there are tons of maggots/flies and carrion beetle adults/larvae cleaning things up.

In the past, when the pit was full, I would tamp it down, add a layer of dry ash/char to hide the scent, and bury. Now, I think I may extract the well-cleaned bones and toss them into a char burn for the calcium.

I knew a woman who used to throw chicken bones and anything she didn’t want her dogs and cats to get, up on the roof of a shed.  I don’t know whether it was raccoons or vultures, or??? but those things got carried away.

Not sure it would work with dog poop though

Haha, dog poop would be a much harder sell.

I am very careful not to create habits among wild predators, who would troll my property daily for an easy meal and teach their young to do the same. And of course, I don't want the vet bills for dogs who get into the pit and chow down on several years' worth of dry chicken bones. This does not end well.

/hijack