r/composting • u/bangbangtangwangfang • Aug 16 '26
Have I gone too far?
Guys, I put an entire deer carcass in my pile today. Roadkill that got hit last night in front of my house and I just couldn't help myself.
My current pile is about 10 yards, it's plenty big enough. But it just feels like I'm going down a dangerous path
111
u/WasNeverTheOne Aug 16 '26
I wanna know how bad the stench will get.
32
Aug 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
7
3
u/MightyKittenEmpire2 Aug 17 '26
You know water filters use carbon to filter out odors, right? What is most of what we're composting? Paper, cardboard, wood chips, leaves, all carbon and all absorb smells.
I used to have 3 pigs in a pen near our house. No smells, but every day we put more carbon materials over the area where they pooped. People would be shocked that our pigs were smell free.
2 ft of wood chips will absorb dead deer smells. That's the standard the PA dept of enviro protection enforces.
1
u/curtludwig Aug 17 '26
I gutted a deer into my pile it was covered with just over a yard of leaves. Smelled kinda weird but not bad or gross. Had a huge appetite for leaves, I probably put three or four yards in before it quit.
27
u/ZonoKip Aug 16 '26
Circle of life! Why not if you have the space and resources. Otherwise it could probably be eaten by other wildlife to go back into the ecosystem
24
u/archaegeo Aug 16 '26
my biggest concern would be critters. If you didnt bury it deep, you are goign to get visitors.
andyeah, gonna need a lot of brown to counter it, but with enough brown and buried, shouldnt even smell till you turn it
9
1
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 17 '26
Coyotes haven't messed with it yet, don't think they will. It's under about 3 ft at least
21
u/Huesyourdaddy Aug 16 '26
I saw a video of a commercial composting facility. Compost must have been 30-50 ft high. They were burying pig carcasses in the compost
6
8
u/RdeBrouwer Aug 16 '26
U going to need a big pile of wood chips! How is the balance of the pile?
1
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 17 '26
Pile was a little carbon heavy by my best guess, so not too worried about it. I should have added fresh chips but was kind of in a hurry and fartbrained it
8
u/its_pixiie Aug 16 '26
I collect skulls, and this is my favourite way to start cleaning roadkill for my collection!!! Chuck it in the pile and let the decomp/insects do the work. Sooo much easier than removing the flesh with a knife, and its also pretty metal to watch the insects do their thing...
Once it is cleaned, pick out any pieces you wish to keep and then macerate in a combo of water + dish soap to degrease before you whiten with hydrogen peroxide! :)
3
u/zeenzee Aug 16 '26
Thanks for the quick tutorial; I didn't even know this was a thing.
My Dad was adamant that bones and such never went into the compost, mostly because of scavengers. Other gardening guides suggested that the only way to deal with composting bones is burying the bones as bottom fillers for raised beds or huglekultur raised beds.
4
u/its_pixiie Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
Well my methods may be considered somewhat controversial in portions of the oddities community, but it's just a hobby for me so meh, haha. But yes, attracting predators/scavengers is definitely something to consider and manage; especially if you live deep in bear country like I do!
It also takes more time than doing it manually, but I am in no rush and prefer to just let nature do the dirty work...
Additionally, if youre patient/lazy like me - In the summer you could even (carefully and respectfully) find a carcass, leave it where it is and go back to check on it to monitor the decomp. The bugs and elements make quick work of things and then you can take the desired bones home to finish in your compost before degreasing. Its not the best for maintaining integrity if youre goal is "perfection" when it comes to your collection, but I prefer to let as much of the animal go back to nature as possible before I interrupt. :)
edit: spelling
6
u/RoguePlanet2 Aug 16 '26
Treat that as its own separate compost, and start a smaller one from scratch for your own use. I'd love to see this documented!
6
u/cracksmack85 Aug 16 '26
3
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 17 '26
That guy writes like he's a down a couple slugs of moonshine. That was an incredible read. I would love this so much
2
u/c-lem Aug 16 '26
Thanks--I found that post like a decade ago but lost the link. I've tried a few times to find it again but to no avail.
5
u/BeatNo4548 Aug 16 '26
Where I live, the coyotes would pick it clean in 3 or 4 days. I can't even compost some chicken bones without getting a few coyotes.
4
u/toxcrusadr Aug 16 '26
The MO DOT did this on a large scale with waste sawdust from sawmills. Buried multiple carcasses in a mound of sawdust. 6 months later they were gone.
If you get odor, cover it with more material. Browns work well of course but even more of your existing pile as cover should work.
3
u/QueasyIndication1942 Aug 16 '26
I’m reading a respected permaculture practitioner’s book and roadkill is one of her recommendations.
3
3
u/Dazzling-Lemon1409 Aug 16 '26
Put roadkill buried under citrus trees. They are heavy feeders. Best oranges ever.
3
u/Illustrious_Beanbag Aug 16 '26
It's fine. But Dogs. Keep dogs out. So disgusting when my terrier found a deer carcass.
5
u/ft907 Aug 16 '26
I watched a video about a compost facility that composed several dead pigs. Piles so big they used heavy.machinery to turn them. They said it smelled like bacon.
6
u/Miserable_Hearing_29 Aug 16 '26
I mean I've put the scraps from a hunt in the pile but a hole carcass, might have been better to burie it under a garden bed
But hay can't let it go to waste
Oh and it gose without saying but just pee on it, it will be fine
2
2
u/Theme_Training Aug 17 '26
It’ll be fine. You can compost full grown cattle and horses without any problems. If you’ve been your pile correctly and put enough cover over it, it’ll be gone in a week or two
2
u/MightyKittenEmpire2 Aug 17 '26
There are multiple states, PA is one, that require roadkill deer ti be composted in the woods next to the highway under 2 ft of chips. It's perfectly safe.
I have piles as large as 20 ft circle and they have eaten 2 horses, several cattle, chickens, deer, possums, and more. It takes a year for almost everything to be gone if the pile heats at all. I'll occasionally find the critter equivalent of a femur or pelvis after a year, but anything like that goes right back into the next pile.
Most of my piles are 12x12x6, but we keep 2 larger piles going for big animals, stumps, and other very large items. We have a farm.
5
u/angus_the_red Aug 16 '26
I definitely wouldn't be spreading that on my garden next year.
2
u/vengefulgrapes Aug 16 '26
Yeah, I think if the usual advice is to not use feces in compost that will be used for food, then a carcass would have the same problems.
2
u/boone8466 Aug 16 '26
People use cow/horse manure/rabbit pellets/chicken pellets all the time in compost. The only rule of thumb I've heard of is not to use omnivores manure in compost.
Source: something i saw on the internet somewhere.
0
u/vengefulgrapes Aug 16 '26
Well then in that case, I think meat should not be used in compost for the same reason that a meat-eater’s feces shouldn’t be used in compost.
2
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 17 '26
People use feces all the time. It's more a question of disease vectors, and AFAIK there nothing to worry about with deer.
2
u/Soff10 Aug 16 '26
Bury it deep. Add coffee grounds and quick lime if stench gets bad. And a tarp as well.
1
u/EnrichedUranium235 Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
In my area, deer carcasses and other dead animals just disappear. I've have more then one dead deer in my yard and within 1-2 days all that is left is a bone or two and some tufts of hair.
1
u/baalbarith Aug 16 '26
I've wondered if something like this was feasible. Not possible to even think about attempting where I live. Would love to see photos of the bones afterwards.
1
1
u/gardengnome1282 Aug 16 '26
Okay! I’ve wondered about the risks of this given prion disease… this article summary was an interesting read. Anyone done more comprehensive research on prion disease risk and compost?
1
u/MobileElephant122 Aug 17 '26
We used about 12 cubic yards for grandpa
It worked just fine. Just make sure you have plenty covering thickly over the top cause the coyotes will come a callin if any smell arises.
Don’t forget to take off his watch. We had to go back and get grandpas pocket watch the next day cause my cousin remembered it.
2
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 17 '26
My dad and I were talking about this. I told him if he write it up in his will I'll truck him half way across the US and compost him assuming I outlive him.
1
u/GladClock2212 Aug 20 '26
Do you have chickens? Someone is going to enjoy those maggots
1
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 20 '26
Sure do! Yeah if I open up the pile and there are lots of maggots, the chickens will be taking a field trip for sure
1
u/BeeAlley Aug 17 '26
My mom and I buried a dog under my compost pile bc she passed away when it was hot/dry and the ground was too hard to dig anywhere else. I’m gonna let it finish composting and plant something nice there for my mom bc it was her favorite dog.
2
1
Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/c-lem Aug 17 '26
Sorry, but there's apparently no way to obscure this image via NSFW tag or spoiler tags. It's pretty unexpectedly grotesque. Could you remove the image? Feel free to upload it to a place like imgur and simply link to it here. I'll restore this comment once it's removed.
1
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 17 '26
That's sad. I hope you compost it? Not sure even how this fits the context but cool man.
1
Aug 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/bangbangtangwangfang Aug 18 '26
Thanks for the story? Hope you have good control with them, keep them away from kids I guess
64
u/No_Manufacturer_9670 Aug 16 '26
When you open that pile, post pics of the skeleton