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Neighbors horse died
asop
Member Posts: 8,977 ✭✭✭✭
Never gave it much thought but he was digging a shallow hole and told me that's where the horse's remains were going. Told me he would be placing big wood chips in the hole, then the horse and cover it with a mound of a wood chip mixture pile. Really didn't want to ask the questions I'd would have liked to ask.
Comments
https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W257.pdf
On-farm composting can be a practical method of equine disposal, using controlled conditions to pro- mote aerobic (with oxygen) degradation of the animal carcass. Horses and other equines can be composted using generous amounts of woody or herbaceous addi- tive material, including stall wastes, wood chips, hay, straw and wood shavings. The cost of composting can be as low as $50 to $75 for those with access to free ad- ditive material such as stall waste. The only equipment necessary is a front-end loader.
He was using his front end loader. I just never gave it much thought of how one deals with a horse that has died!
Big hole to dig
Some states compost road kill wildlife.
Yep, dig a big hole deep. Neighbors BIG draft horse passed away. He was devistated to say the least.
I had dug the hole and another friend was helping. Just before we carried the hoss to it's final resting place I told him I thought I had heard his wife calling for him. By the time he got back the deed was done.
How???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaFO1xNL-IQ
When we can't actually bury we will tuck a cow on the edge of our property in the overgrowth and put Lyme and straw over them and everything else we have... But we will never probably do that to a horse.
"Independence Now, Independence Forever."
John Adams
"Told me he would be placing big wood chips in the hole, then the horse and cover it with a mound of a wood chip mixture pile."
Just my guess that this process will stink to high heaven for quite a while. Besides being dug into be every varmint and stray dog within miles.
"Told me he would be placing big wood chips in the hole, then the horse and cover it with a mound of a wood chip mixture pile."
I thought the next line was going to say, then set it ablaze.
Then I read Forge's reply that explains well
Back in my younger days our neighbor lost her horse. They just called the glue factory. (that is what I was told)
Remember watching a big dump truck with a hoist lifting the horse and taking it away.
Out near the railroad yard where I use to work there was a rendering works plant. People would call and they would come out and pick up what ever was dead, cows, horses and what ever. Went inside once to watch the process, they would drop a cow into to this chopper and within 5 seconds it was gone, reduced to ground up mush. Then when vat was filled they dumped everything into an open top gondola car, covered top with tarp and shipped it some where to be cooked down. If you were lucky you got to switch the car out of the plant and put on your train, we called them gut cars, and they smelled real good in the summer time LOL
Around here it will cost you a minimum of $500 to have them hauled off by the "pet cemetery" folks and they take em to the dump, cremation will double that or burial even more... Made that mistake once, the next time I found a septic guy with a back hoe who dug a hole on my property and buried here for $200 that was about 8 years ago, the most recent about 6 months ago a different guy cost me $300 to do it. I have a front loader, but you can't get but about 2 ft deep with that. The back hoe guys could dig 6-8 ft deep in less than 20 minutes and then another 5-10 minutes to place the horse and backfill...
30+ years ago I was working on putting up several greenhouse structures out in a field. Had to dig some footings and uncovered several horse skeletons. Place must have once been quite the burial ground and they were only down about 3 feet.
...feelings for horses can run deep as those for your pup, they can become one of your best buddies...its terrible when you loose one...the worst is when your vet is out of touch and you end up having to shoot your buddy...then have to bury him, tough...cows not so much...the yotes will make really short work of a cow in no time, hungry little things...but they do sing nicely at night...yip-yip-yip...
We had horses when I was growing up. Its soooo hard when you lose one, they are so gentle and have such big personalities.