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Chicken guts....

 
James Stark
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Location: Manitoba Canada
posted 13 years ago
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Yep, I know. Not the most pleasant topic, but I gotta do it.

What do you guys do with the guts after you slaughter your chickens? I don't like dumping them in the bush to let nature take care of it because it attracts foxes and the like. Same goes for composting it (plus I haven't mastered the art of keeping it from smelling). I hate taking the guts to the dump, just because I hate taking ANYTHING to the dump and knowing it will be buried instead of used in a productive way.

So is there anything else I can do with the mess that you guys can think of that won't attract other critters, but that doesn't do more harm than good?

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Chuck Freeman
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posted 13 years ago
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If I don't have any animals to feed them to I bury them. I use post hole diggers I can dig a 3' hole and keep it small.

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Tyler Ludens
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posted 13 years ago
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I also bury them and cover the spot with a large rock to discourage critters from digging.

Idle dreamer

 
James Stark
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posted 13 years ago
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I love the idea of using a post hole digger! I've buried them before, but wanted to avoid the digging. This would let me make a hole deep enough, without breaking my back. AND, I think I'll add a rock on top for good measure.

I never fail. I don't believe in it. I only succeed at finding what doesn't work.

 
Ken Peavey
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posted 13 years ago
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I keep the gizzard, heart and liver.  The rest goes into the compost.  Never had a problem with critters getting into the heap.

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James Stark
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posted 13 years ago
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Ken Peavey wrote:
I keep the gizzard, heart and liver.  The rest goes into the compost.   Never had a problem with critters getting into the heap.

Between my dogs and the resident foxes (whom I still haven't managed to get rid of) my compost heap would end up being spread out over an acre or two. Otherwise, I would most definitely keep trying to compost it, and work on the smell factor. I do compost the blood though.

I never fail. I don't believe in it. I only succeed at finding what doesn't work.

 
Tyler Ludens
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posted 13 years ago
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James Stark wrote:
the resident foxes (whom I still haven't managed to get rid of)



Pretty hard to discourage foxes from hanging around when you've got chickens!

Idle dreamer

 
A Philipsen
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posted 13 years ago
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Pigs are awesome for cleaning up bodies, uh, evidence, uh, chicken guts (whew).  You could feed some to your dogs too.
 
John Polk
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posted 13 years ago
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Between my dogs and the resident foxes (whom I still haven't managed to get rid of) my compost heap would end up being spread out over an acre or two.



That is permaculture.  I wish I had enough dogs/foxes to spread my compost.  'twould save me a lot of labor!
 
                                    
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I bury them in a hole at least 12 inches deep, under a fruit tree or similar plant that can benefit from the nutrients.

Never had an issue with anything digging them up as long as they're at least a foot deep.
 
Burra Maluca
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posted 13 years ago
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I pop mine into the freezer then when I meet up with my vegetarian friend who breeds reptiles, I give them to him and he raises giant meal-worms on them to feed to his breeding stock. 

I used to put them in the humanure heap, well buried under the humanure!

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Chris Fox
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posted 13 years ago
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I add mine to a freezer bucket and use them as bait when I go fishing. Better than anything you can buy. Catfish jump into the boat when I use it.
 
Abe Connally
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posted 13 years ago
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Guts go to the pigs, bones to the dogs.

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Location: San Diego
posted 13 years ago
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I have a soldier fly setup that takes care of my rabbit guts. I have a small space and had to decide between chickens or rabbits and chose rabbits. I wish I had room for both. Soldier flies also take care of things like moldy cheese that don't do well in compost. The leachate from the setup is a bit smelly but excellent fertilizer.
 
James Stark
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posted 13 years ago
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Thanks everyone for your input. I took all the advice and kind of combined it. I built a sturdy wooden composter, and I'll bury the guts in the middle, surrounded by spent wood shavings from the rat barn. The high carbon will hopefully contain the moisture and keep it from smelling, since it will have about a foot and a half of matereal on all sides of the guts. I'm also planning to save some to go fishing on the river for channel cats!

I never fail. I don't believe in it. I only succeed at finding what doesn't work.

 
Jordan Lowery
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posted 13 years ago
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black soldier fly bin. toss the stuff in, it will be gone in 24 hours, no smell, no fuss. then you can feed the larvae to the chickens again. or actually you can set it up where the larvae self harvest. all you have to do is dump in scraps.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

 
James Stark
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Are black soldier flies native to the Canadian praries though? Can't seem to find any local info on them.

I never fail. I don't believe in it. I only succeed at finding what doesn't work.

 
Dale Hodgins
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        If you have space for a catfish pond in a green house or sunroom the catfish would clean up the guts and you never have to worry about smell or rats. Fish are efficient feed converters and the thermal mass of their tank would be useful for solar heating or for greenhouse temperature control.
 
Timothy Norton
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posted 6 months ago
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Chicken byproduct/carcass that is not going to be consumed is slated for composting. I will make a hole in an existing pile and encase the parts and pieces in a bubble of carbon. This could be sawdust or shavings but I have some under and over then I close up the pile. Add some moisture to get that bad boy started and it generally processes down nicely.

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