dog owner

Can dog feces go into a worm composter?

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Apr 10, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		Dog Feces in a Worm Bin
by: Pauly

Hello dog Owner,

This is a very good question and one that I don't talk too much about.

I don't use dog, cat, pig, or humanure etc... in my worm bins NOT because worms can't eventually break it down into castings but because the feces can contain harmful pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella.

But to make this short you may actually want to set up a separate worm bin to compost your dog feces to feed plants that you will not eat.

Plants like grass, trees, shrubs and house plants. I would definitely not recommend this to a budding worm farmer who still doesn't have much experience with composting vegetation into worm castings.

When worms turn plants into castings they still leave a little bit of uncomposted material behind.

You could have 99% worm castings and 1% uncomposted material and that material may contain the unwanted pathogens.

so it's just best to err on the side of caution and not feed it to the plants you intend to eat.

Hope this helps you,
~Pauly
Apr 28, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		animal feces
by: Helen

I have been raising Red Worms for about 13-16 years & all the books I've read on worm composting says DO NOT add any feces of any kind because of the parasites, Our Pauly seems to have done some research, also. Very Good
Apr 29, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		Adding Animal Feces to Your Worm Bin
by: Pauly

Thanks Helen for your support.

I do want to clarify something real quickly in case some may be a little confused.

Not all animal feces has a bad rap in a worm bin. In fact, some manures and worms just seem to be made for each other.

Feeding your worms manures from ruminant (cud chewing) animals makes some of the best fertilizer on the planet.

Make sure you have composted the manure in some manner first before feeding it to the worms.

I just don't recommend feeding other manures from pets for the reasons stated earlier. To find out why feeding cow, goat, sheep, etc... is good for worms click the link below.

https://www.wormfarmingrevealed.com/worm-food.html

Scroll down to subtitle "Worm Food Using Manure"
~Pauly
May 03, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		Dog Owner
by: Dan

Pauly,
In my reading over the winter I ran across a few articles that say animals fed GMO products have glyphosate residues in their manure...(From Round-Up ready crops) For me, if I am using it to compost a garden, I steer clear of it...You can get rid of the pathogens but the glyphosate is still there...Just my two cents...
Dan
May 04, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		Humanure?
by: Michael

Pauly,
Do you have advice and or instructions on setting up composting toilet, humanure recycling bin and can you use worms in that process? And do you have any idea on what regulations might apply?
Thanks
May 08, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		Pauly's Reply
by: Pauly

1)Dan and 2)Michael,

1) Dan, Thanks for the info on the glyphosate residues in dog feces.

Worms have an amazing ability to be able to devour harmful pathogens and kill them within the gut with the aid of special bacteria.

They can also hold in toxins such as chemicals but that doesn't mean that they hold them ALL in. I remember reading an article somewhere (maybe Worm Digest) that worms were being used to rid the land of certain chemicals.

Sadly, since the chemicals were now trapped in the worms, they had to burn the worms. I think it was in India.

That's the only real fast way of getting rid of harmful chemicals through the purging of fire. But the best way is like Dan said, "Just avoid it altogether". Thanks again Dan. ~Pauly

----

2) Michael, You might want to checkout Joe Jenkins on YouTube. I just don't do this type of composting.

BUT since you asked. Here's how I might approach this.

If you are wanting to tackle this in the traditional worm composting bin then...

1. 1st tray add a few layers of wet newspaper
2. Add lots of shredded carbon on top of that
3. Add just one handful (not literally ;) of Humanure.
4. Add lots of red composting worm cocoons around the sides of the bin and in some worm castings to keep the cocoons moist and make them feel at home when they hatch.
5. Add lots of shredded carbon material again.
6. Make sure all is moistened and add another few sheets of wet newspaper on top.

Okay...Why the cocoons?

Because baby worms just do better in the environment that they're hatched in.

But if you want to get your adult worms used to it then introduce it to them (just a little) in the next tray above. Then the next tray more and the next tray 100% humanure.

This is just a theory and I would love to see you try this and we can make a webpage out of this experiment. Thanks for posting Michael.

~Pauly
May 09, 2013
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starstarstar 		Joe Jenkins and Humanure Forum
by: Pauly

Here's an interesting thread from Joe Jenkin's forum. I haven't read all of it but just thought I would pass it on to everyone.

Let me know what you all think. ~Pauly


http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/messages/messages/4/28.html

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