The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Dogs => Topic started by: darkbrowneggs on September 11, 2013, 10:08:01 am
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A few years ago after much research I started with a new method of "dog poo" disposable With one or two Great Danes around which dont go out on walks (9 acres for them to run round in at home in case any doglovers think I am cruel) it has been an ongoing problem for many years.
But now SOLVED I am pleased to say
First buy some medium sized Dendrobaena worms Next find two very sturdy large dustbins or something similar. put the worms in the bottom with some soil and a bit of brash. then start adding poo
I use a horse poo collector for mine and just keep it next to the bin. My single Great Dane takes about a year to fill one - You will be amazed at how quickly the worms process it down
I drilled holes in the bottom of the first one, but this isnt necessary and causes run off. You could collect this if you like as it will be excellent fertilizer. But they work equally well without holes and its something less to worry about
At the end of the year switch to the next bin and leave the first bin alone. You will need to buy more worms, I have akilo each time - they are about £18 or £20 You probably dont need that many but best safe than sorry
There is no smell during the year, and a the end of the second year the first bin is just soil. I have asked folk to lift the lid and tell me what is in there and they all say earth. If you want you could sift the soil and save the worms for next years bin
My system wouldnt work if you used collecting bags for the poo unless they were emptied out - not very pleasant I would guess. Maybe it would work if they were biodegradable bags, but it might take much longer and you would need an extra bin
This system has worked 100 percent successfully for me No smell, not fuss and just two dustbins to house
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:thumbsup: That sounds ideal for us to, we will soon have 3 Labradors and they create a bit of poo.I used to flush a lot down the outside toilet but it blocked :innocent: :innocent: , so now we double bag it into the dust bin, I hate doing that but nothing other than taking it our self to the tip. I was thinking about getting one of those chemical toilets for dog poo but worms sound better....I will certainly be giving that a go, we already have 2 good size bins!! THANKS :thumbsup:
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and i imagine a great danes poop is humungous :roflanim: :roflanim:
great idea :thumbsup:
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I noticed a lot of people burry the bin, then I suppose you have to dig the soil out, so a free standing one may be better, what do other people think? We are moving soon so I WILL be making one of them.......funny how poo plays such an important part in our life......its good to see a goo quality poo from any animal, bird or human!! :roflanim:
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Great idea and so much more useful that my current disposal method - flinging it into the woodland, it always seems to hit the same blackthorn tree so we won't be picking sloes from it lol.
I use my recycled bottle scoops and a bit of old slate to pick the stuff up because our dogs are just little terriers
http://theroundhouse.freeforums.org/scoops-for-everything-t972.html (http://theroundhouse.freeforums.org/scoops-for-everything-t972.html)
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We had an old dustpan that's rusty and fairly large and that's the best ever dog poo scoop out, I did buy a posh new one and its no good at all.........
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This sounds like such a fantastic idea, I must remember it for when we get a holding! Thank you!
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What a brilliant idea, will definitely be doing that, thank you - I also go for the flinging it into the wood approach, onto the steep bit the children can't get at!
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I tried everything before this system as I have kept Danes since the 60's
I can't believe how easy and effective it is
Wish I had done it years ago
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Does it matter if the bins are plastic or metal? And do they need to be in sunlight like compost bins?
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i saw a version of this that gets buried and has holes in the bottom effectively never needs emptying as the worms and other bugs carry it all away!!!
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I tried that but on my soil it acted more as a sump and filled very quickly I also tried the one where you pour some sort of liquid activator on and that didnt work for me either :(
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Does it matter if the bins are plastic or metal? And do they need to be in sunlight like compost bins?
Mine are very strong old plastic bins that I bought one time from the council when they were changing their "bin policy"
I have them in under a hedge by where I park the cars so mine are in the shade but simply because it suits me to have them there.
I think they would need to strong enough to support the weight of the finished "product" and I have noticed all the bins you buy nowadays are very flimsy whether plastic or metal, and I think flimsy plastic ones would bulge and split under the weight and the modern galvanized ones would rust out too quickly
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Wheely bin I don't use might be a possibility for me then :eyelashes:
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I stick mine down the manhole cover into the septic tank.
These systems just seem to me to be sort of 'DIY' septic tanks so I think I might as well use the properly designed system.
I would have expected that eventually the soil underneath would silt up and you'd have to move it.
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I cannot open the man hole that easily and still think it could block the drain as our poos are hard and big :innocent: .......
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I'm surprised the residue from their anti worming treatments doesn't kill the composting worms. Mine* just gets eaten by slugs in the paddocks...
* as in, from my dogs
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I'm going to try this but.... what is brash? (I'm in Essex and there will be 6 dogs at mine soon!)
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dark brow eggs
you are a
GENIUS :trophy: :bouquet: :hug:
now I know what to do with all my Akita poo :relief:
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We went to visit our new prospective home yesterday and the neighbour showed us around his flowers and said he is always after compost..............it may be his lucky day with us having 3 labs and the loo idea :wave:
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I'm going to try this but.... what is brash? (I'm in Essex and there will be 6 dogs at mine soon!)
Brash is just rough trimmings or tufty grass. I think I used some old leylandii hedge trimmings to bring it up to about 12" or so from the bottom of the bin, and then just throw on a couple of spadefulls of earth.
I used the brash to give a bit of drainage for the bottom and the earth is somewhere for the worms to live.
They turn the poo into soil and then live in that gradually working their way up as the bin fills
You will notice something that looks like sluggy insecty things on the inside wall of the bin. Leave these alone they are the worms eggs Its amazing how they manage to climb up the bin walls to lay their eggs.
If your dogs poo is really hard and white and dry (shouldnt be if you collect it regularly) you might need to add a bit of water sometimes. But I have never had to add or drain off water.
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i saw a version of this that gets buried and has holes in the bottom effectively never needs emptying as the worms and other bugs carry it all away!!!
Confessions of a dog poop composter .....
Well do any of you recall that we had a purpose built dog loo and turd digester built when we had our garden landscaped a couple of years ago ?
The pee area app 4 sq. mtrs. works well , gets hosed every time " Merle strains the greens so to speak unless it is freezing weather then it freezes and gets sorted when the thaw comes..
The turd digester worked well , every week we put tow buckets of water in the digester to flush out the digested matter then added a cap of the digester liquid.
We had a bit of a mishap when the digester fluid we ordered on line took three weeks to arrive and even flushing the digester with warm water didn't do much as most of the sediment was still like sharp sand instead of being a microscopic syrup.
Within a few more months the digester started to back up and take a day of so for the flush water to go away .
A couple of weeks of hard frost saw the lot freeze solid and as it thawed it set like mortar. end of the turd digester project.
I've resorted to using a plastic bucket 1/3 filled with clean water and every day the turds get scooped up on long handle kiddies sand spade shaft removed and replaced with set on 13 mm copper tube and bent to 90 degrees by the blade so it almost lays the spade bit flat . the other implement used is a kiddies spring tine sand rake to pull the muck on the spade blade.
Every time the dog poops and I've cleaned it up I give the toilet area he's been on a quick spray on high jet off the hose pipe and a quick squirt of water into the bucket to add a wee bit of air and water to aid the break down of the turds ..
Once a week I lift the manhole cover and slip a 1/4 inch grid garden sieve over the hole and pour the bucket contents down the hole flushing it with the hose on a gentle spray ( I hate the back splash when using high spray jet :roflanim: )
Any stones or non broken down stuff gets put back in another bucket and water is added till the next week end when It gets well stirred up & that too gets put down the manhole using the sieve in the manner previously mentioned..
The gravel that is left over gets put back on the the dog loo area .
I've decided not to put composted dog muck on the gardens as I have immune probs caused by diabetes & arachnoiditis , I can't afford the risk of dog muck borne infections/diseases .
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Absolutely fantastic idea. Have five dogs and disposal is a constant hassle.
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Genius! :thumbsup:
I have 4 dogs and have been looking for the answer for years, I'm thinking of using it for cat poo as well, we use wood pellet litter, would that be ok do you think?
I have some blue plastic drums, very heavy duty, and only £6 so I will be using one or two of these. I've found the worms on-line too so no stopping me now!
Presumably these bins need frost protection like any other wormery and in theory kitchen waste could go in too?
How long after worming the dogs and cats is their poo safe to go in the bin?
Might need to do a bit more researching....
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I never gave mine any frost protection and it all seemed ok. I am in the Midlands and they are tucked in under a hedge in a sheltered corner but it faces north. They are just there because it is convenient for me.
I am not a great "wormer" of anything, though I would not hesitate to do so if I thought an animal needed it - ie staring coat, increased appetite but still thin and dragging bum on ground or bits or worm near anus
My dog doesnt eat rubbish so doesnt seem to have worm problems and as she is the only dog I have had whilst using this system I cant comment.
If you start adding veg waste you are into a whole different ball game and running a proper wormery, and I dont know of anyone who has succeeded with that one for an extended period of time - though there maybe someone on here who has?
I have compost bin/heaps for veg type waste and in any case would not be keen to use the "soil" round the garden to that extent. Under hedges or a bit of infill in odd field corners rather that on the veg beds or flower borders would be my thoughts. And if you don't have enough spaces then just take it up to the council tip.
I wasn't looking for a "use" for it - just a way of keeping the place clean and tidy without any smell or fuss.