countryside, human manure disposal could be taken care of by installing the out house directly over the septic tank with a short piece of concrete pipe vertcally between the two. septic tanks handle the composting pretty good when not contaminated with strong household chemicals or laundry products. and when I young, we fed our dog oat meal left from the breakfast table along with table scraps. the dog lived with us for 14 years with out commercial dogfood. thanks for a great magazine.

-- sherman spratford (spratfarm@centrytel.net), April 15, 2000

Answers

Just a comment about the dog food. More and more people I know with Great Danes, that is what I raise and tend to talk with others who have the breed, are starting to raise them on BARF diets which stands for Bones and Raw Food. They primarily feed RAW chicken bones such as backs, necks and wings along with chicken meat and they add other things to it such as fruit, vegetables and grains. (The only safe chicken bone to feed a dog is a raw one because they do not splinter.) This is because they feel it is more natural then the current kibble they are fed.

As to your manure idea, since I own eight great danes and therefore have plenty of manure, albeit dog manure, I am mulling over in my mind trying to figure out a way to process it through a worm bed. Since there is quite a bit of manure, I'm not sure that a worm bed could handle it and I'm pondering over where I could put it. I'm not crazy about having the dog poop in my cellar but I think the worms need to be there to maintain the temperature, I live in Virginia, so I am going to keep thinking about it. I would prefer to raise them in my barn so I will have to think of a good way to keep it warm. I'll be looking for any ideas anyone might have on that one.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), April 15, 2000.

Colleen, I don't know much about Great Danes other than all the ones I've met have been very friendly and affable, but I do know they make gigantic turds! Because your dogs eat meat, I would suggest that "processing" their manure through a worm bed is not a good idea. First, meat and meat products are not recommended for worms. They are usually used with rabbits which are vegetarians. Second, I would think the stink would drive you out of your house. Third, I'm sure that if you put the dog manure directly into your worm bed, it would draw flies! Your home would turn into the Virginia Black Fly Capital!

Try to get a copy of the book Humanure, which talks about composting human manure at very high temperatures to kill the pathogens. The author (whose name I regret to admit I've forgotten, but the book is advertised in the homesteading magazines and you can order it over the internet from Real Goods and suchlike places, or your local Barnes and Noble or the author if you can find his website).

Where was I? Oh, he composts with sawdust. What I am thinking is, if you composted your dog manure at high heat with sawdust to kill the pathogens, and then mixed the compost with peat and leaves and garden trimmings and table scraps (but no meat or cheese), then I would think you could feed it to your worms.

Where in Virginia are you? I'm near Charlottesville. I'm a German Shepherd person, but I would like to meet your eight Great Danes. I bet they are something to see!

-- Elizabeth Petofi (tengri@cstone.net), April 15, 2000.