The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: startingup on July 31, 2019, 01:56:04 pm
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Hi all,
How do you dispose of animal waste on a small scale when its not going on a compost site? Specifically soiled cattle straw.
I understand that local recycling centres take it, but only two double bagged binliner bags per person per day, which doesnt add up to much with a whole penful of straw that has been replenished each day! :)
Is it legal to burn it and if so do I need a licence or something?
Thank you!
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Muck heap = nice compost for the garden
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Hi Startingup! I don't know where you are but it is against the law now to do any type of burning on farms/smallholdings. I think that the law is the same for all uk. You used to get a 'burning' licence from Sepa and that allowed you to burn farm plastics and waste . How much waste straw are you generating? We house 3 cattle overnight and muck out maybe once a month. We make a heap in a field and keep turning it with the tractor. It breaks down quite quickly then we spread it on the fields after haymaking etc. You have to make sure your muck heap isnt seeping into water courses and I think there are copiuos rules and regulations regarding this.
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Wow!
Most gardeners would love to have the same problems as You!
Are you far from cities or towns with allotments?
People around here buy trailer loads of muck to grow veggies at home or allotment.
A tally why would you want to dispose of the best fertilizer you can get for you own land??? Unless you practise a zero grazing system?
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I would sell it or give it away on freecycle. Just advertise it as "as much as you can shovel" then they would do all the work for you
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Thanks everyone!
I guess it would be a couple of tonnes Scotsdumpy.
Guess I could use a bit of it on veg patch and paddocks and sell the rest then!
Thanks very much!
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Thanks everyone!
I guess it would be a couple of tonnes Scotsdumpy.
Guess I could use a bit of it on veg patch and paddocks and sell the rest then!
Thanks very much!
If you leave that much in a covered pile for a year or two, it will rot down into just the right amount to spread on your veg patch each winter :garden: and the area underneath the pile will be amazingly fertile too, so site it carefully :thumbsup: .
The only problem with using cattle manure as compost is if you have used a persistent wormer for your animals. Such wormers go right through the beast so the active ingredient in the wormer will continue to work in their manure and will prevent compost/tiger worms from living in the heap to do their work.
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Thank you Fleecewife. I have wormed them actually so that may be an issue. Interesting thought!
Just as aside from that, is there a technique or any advice for stopping calves sucking each others navels after milk feeding. Obviously individual penning will stop this, but that's not really my cup of tea. I tend to give them fresh straw and hay after feeding and this distracts them for a while, but doesn't always work, and I have to physically separate them. Am I right in separating them, or is this OK? :-\
Thanks again
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Wipe their faces thoroughly after they finish their milk, then give them something to distract them from the navel sucking. Playing with fresh straw is a good one, and as soon as they’re old enough, a bit of cake to mouth. I used to use Carrs Sure Start, which is safe from quite a young age, and put a bit in their mouths as they came off the milk. And a bit sprinkled in troughs, buckets and so on, for them to find and tussle over.
If you see them navel sucking, distract them.
If you haven’t time to distract them and they’re not interested in the cake yet, then yes, individual pens for an hour or so after milk, just to break the habit and association. (But always wipe their faces clean or the milky smell will get them going again when you put them back together again.)
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Thank you Fleecewife. I have wormed them actually so that may be an issue. Interesting thought!
It's only the Ivermectin-type wormers which persist in the dung, as far as I know, then kill soil worms on contact for about 6 months or so.
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Thanks Sally, very helpful! Glad to know i have been doing the right thing :) I will do as you say and separate them after feeding for a while.
Thank you too Fleecewife, that should be fine then. :thumbsup: