Composting meat/fish/cake etc

[LauraB]

I know that these are usually a no-no, but I've been reading a book about self sufficiency which advocates composting everything. The author uses daleks standing on metal grates to allow worms but not rats or mice through.

What do you think? Are there other reasons for not composting non-plant matter?

[LauraB]

[Melbourne12]

I have to say that we don't compost meat, fish, or left-overs from the table containing them.  But they do go into the "brown bin" that the council collects for composting.  Apart from the risk of vermin, the smell is pretty horrible, and I guess that bones take a very long time indeed to rot.  But in principle, you can compost any organic matter, even sewage, bearing in mind the risk of infection.

We add leftover bread and cake (not usually any leftover cake  ;D ) to compost without problem.

[LauraB]

He also composted faeces with a thunderbox loo  :D

[bunjies]

trust me, from someone who's job it is to collect the brown food waste bins,
it smells!
once it is collected it is heated in special containers to a higher temp than achieved in a compost bin, then is put into windrows to compost in the usual manner.
i have read that in a domestic enviroment that a wormery is better for cooked food waste/meat scraps etc as the little wigglers do a quicker job of it ;)
i have heard that you can even put dog poo in a wormery if it is kept just for that and the resulting compost is NOT used for food plants. i must look into that one more :)

[Baccy Man]

I do compost all meat, fish, bones etc.. without any problems they go into hot compost heaps buried about 6" below the surface which prevents any odours. I have never yet found anything which has survived the composting process nor have I had vermin trying to get in there so I don't bother siting the bins on a mesh screen.
If you struggle to get high temperatures in your compost heaps you would be better off looking at the green cone composter for these materials it is not cheap but some councils are offering it at reduced prices take a look at the council discounts on their website for  details.

http://www.greencone.com/home.asp?lang=1

Bunjies the safest way to compost dog waste is in a hot compost heap although there is some evidence that redworms will destroy the pathogens the research is still at a fairly early stage. The most troublesome pathogen in dog waste is taxoplasmosis and 10 minutes at 70 degrees C (158 degrees F) will kill it if your heap gets to that temperature then it is perfectly safe to use the finished compost on an area you are growing edible plants.

[bunjies]

thanks baccy man!
i have no desire to use my compost from doggy doo on veggies as i have no veggies in me garden, but that aside how do i make a really hot compost heap?
i would just like to find a way of disposing of my dogs waste without it having to go into landfill.
i did have one of the doggie loo things but i never found it succesful ???
i assume this is perhaps because my dogs are fed strictly raw and their poo is the old fashioned white dog poo!

[dtw]

I always thought dog poo went white because it had faded in the sun or
the 'brownness' got washed out by the rain.
Now I know.  8)

[bunjies]

tis basically bonemeal.
in days of old peeps always gave the dog a bone.
now however i get looked at like i am radioactive or something because i feed my dogs meat on the bone!
fancy that feeding meat and bones to a domestic wolf ::)

[Baccy Man]

how do i make a really hot compost heap?

To make a heap that will hit 160F easily so you can compost dog waste you want to make a mix of 70% high nitrogen materials chicken manure, grass cuttings & coffee grounds make up the bulk of my hot heaps & 30% carbons it doesnt matter what you use for the carbons straw, leaves, paper, woodchips whatever is availiable to you. The dog waste will be included as part of the nitrogens I suggest you save it up for a while before making the heap. Then turn weekly, watering with undiluted urine will help get the temperatures up a bit more.
You can get the right temperatures in a 330 litre dalek but they are awkward to turn when I use them I lift the bin off place it next to the pile then use a fork to move the compost back into it breaking up an clumped materials as I go, pallet bins are much easier to turn & hold more material so are easier to get to higher temperatures. Once you have made the heap you don't add any more materials to it just turn weekly & water with urine until it start to look like compost but still with some recognisable bits in it then cut out the urine but continue turning every  couple of weeks until it looks like multi purpose compost. You can then either use it straight away or pile it up somewhere & leave it for the worms to break down further so you end up with a seedling compost. Because there is such a high nitrogen content the heap will release a lot of steam & ammonia when you mix it while it is active so it is best to keep it away from the house.
Hot composting is labour intensive but to give you an idea of the advantages I was given just over 4 tons of fresh woodchips at the end of september which most people will tell you take around 2 years to compost properly I have already composted them & when I spread the finished compost last weekend I raked it over & there was not enough woodchips left to fill a shovel.

[Mrs Ava]

I put fish bones, guts, skins etc on the compost and shellfish leftovers. 

[bunjies]

thanks for that baccy man, sounds like hard work!
i may have to let the wormies do it for me :P